Dare Babalola
The Supreme Court has overturned President Bola Tinubu’s pardon for Maryam Sanda, an Abuja housewife sentenced to death in 2020 for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, during a domestic dispute.
President Tinubu had earlier commuted Sanda’s sentence to 12 years in prison on compassionate grounds.
In a four-to-one split decision on Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence handed to Maryam Sanda, affirming the earlier rulings of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, which had sentenced her to death by hanging for the murder of her husband.
The Supreme Court addressed all the issues raised in Sanda’s appeal, ultimately dismissing it for lacking merit.
Justice Moore Adumein held in the lead judgment, which he personally delivered, that the prosecution proved the case beyond reasonable doubt as required, adding that the Court of Appeal was right to have affirmed the judgement of the trial court.
Justice Adumein held that it was wrong for the Executive to seek to exercise its power of pardon over a case of culpable homicide, in respect of which an appeal was pending.
Maryam Sanda was convicted for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, in a tragic incident that unfolded during a domestic dispute at their home in Abuja.
The case drew significant attention, with evidence presented in court indicating a violent altercation led to Bello’s death.
The trial established that Sanda had stabbed her husband multiple times, leading to his fatal injuries.
The severity of the crime led the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court to sentence her to death by hanging in 2020, a ruling later upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
