President Bola Tinubu has granted a state pardon to Maryam Sanda, who was convicted for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, son of former Peop
President Bola Tinubu has granted a state pardon to Maryam Sanda, who was convicted for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, son of former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Haliru Bello.
Sanda was arrested in November 2017 and sentenced to death by the Federal High Court in Abuja in January 2020.
She had spent over six years in prison awaiting execution.
Her name was among several others granted clemency by President Tinubu.
Illegal miners, white-collar convicts, remorseful drug offenders, foreigners, Major General Mamman Vatsa, Major Akubo, Professor Magaji Garba, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the other ‘Ogoni Eight’ were among the 175 convicts and former convicts who received Tinubu’s mercy.
Presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga explained that the President’s decision was based on reports indicating that many of the convicts had shown genuine remorse and good conduct during incarceration.
“Some were pardoned due to old age, acquisition of new vocational skills, or enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN),” Onanuga added.
He also noted that Tinubu’s gesture extended to correcting historical injustices, including a posthumous pardon for Sir Herbert Macaulay, one of Nigeria’s foremost nationalists.
