The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the death sentence earlier imposed on Maryam Sanda, daughter-in-law of a former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for the murder of her husband, Bilyamin Bello.
Sanda was convicted on January 27, 2020, by an Abuja High Court, which found her guilty of stabbing Bello to death at their Maitama residence in 2017. She was subsequently sentenced to death by hanging.
She had spent about six years and eight months at the Suleja Correctional Centre before President Bola Tinubu granted her clemency, commuting the sentence to 12 years’ imprisonment. The Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), later defended her inclusion in the presidential pardon list, describing it as a compassionate decision made in the interest of her children, citing her “good conduct, new lifestyle, model behaviour and remorsefulness.”
However, in a split decision of four to one, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court on Friday set aside the presidential reprieve and reinstated the original death sentence.
The apex court dismissed her appeal in its entirety, holding that she failed to establish any error in the concurrent judgments of the lower courts.
