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Family of the late Bilyaminu Bello has condemned the presidential pardon granted to his wife, Maryam Sanda, who was convicted and sentenced to death for his murder.
In a statement on Monday, the family described the move as the worst possible injustice any family could be made to go through.
It said that the decision by President Bola Tinubu to include Sanda among the 175 inmates recently pardoned under the Prerogative of Mercy principle had reopened painful wounds that had barely healed.
“To have Maryam Sanda walk the face of the earth again, free from any blemish for her heinous crime as if she had merely squashed an ant, is the worst possible injustice any family could be made to go through for a loved one,” the statement partly read.
According to the family, Sanda, who was convicted by the FCT High Court on January 27, 2020, for the premeditated and cold-blooded murder of her husband, had shown no remorse even for a fleeting moment throughout the saga.
The family recalled that the court’s judgment was upheld by the Court of Appeal on December 4, 2020, and later affirmed by the Supreme Court on October 27, 2023, saying the family had found some closure after justice was served.
“Satisfied that justice had finally been served, the judgment provided some closure of sorts in the circumstance, if ever there could be one.
“Although the perpetrator had shown no remorse, even for a fleeting moment throughout the saga, the grieving family took solace in the judgments and moved on, having painfully come to terms with the fate that life had thrust upon one of our own.
“This latest turn of events, coming just a few years after the dastardly crime that cruelly cut short Bilyaminu’s life, has, however, expectedly reopened our healing wounds,” the family said.
‘You’ve reopened painful wounds’ – Slain husband’s family slams Tinubu’s pardon for Sanda
