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Family Of Late Bilyaminu Condemns Tinubu’s Pardon Of Wife, Maryam Sanda, Calls It ‘Worst Possible Injustice’
The family of Bilyaminu, who was murdered by his wife, Maryam Sandain 2017, and was recently granted presidential pardon by President Bola Tinubu, has kicked against the decision, stressing that it only reopened healing wounds.
In a statement signed by Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, (DangaladimanGwandu), on behalf of the late Bilyaminu Ahmed’s family, titled: “When Prerogative of Mercy Inflicts Inexorable Pain”, the family stated that to have Sanda walk the face of the earth again, free from any blemish for her heinous crime, is the worst possible injustice any family could face.
Maryam Sanda, the Nigerian woman convicted of killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, was recently granted a presidential pardon by President Bola Tinubu after nearly seven years in custody.
The incident that led to her conviction occurred on November 19, 2017, in Abuja when Sanda was said to have stabbed her husband, during a domestic dispute. Accounts from the trial indicated that an argument between the couple escalated violently.
The prosecution told the court that she attacked Bilyaminu with a broken bottle, causing fatal injuries. Sanda, however, claimed that her husband’s death was accidental, alleging that he fell on a broken shisha pot during the altercation.
After a prolonged trial, the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja found her guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced her to death by hanging in January 2020. The Court of Appeal later upheld that judgment, rejecting her plea of innocence and ruling that the evidence before the lower court sufficiently established intent to kill.
But Bilyaminu’s family said it was deeply hurt by this latest development, which they said is interpreted as primarily driven by the sole motivation for appeasing Maryam’s family members by way of extending mercy to a certified convicted murderer.
“On October 11, 2025, President Tinubu included Sanda among 175 inmates granted clemency under the federal prerogative of mercy. The Presidency said her release was based on recommendations from the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, citing her reformation, remorse, and the need to allow her to reunite with her children.
“Sanda’s release has drawn mixed reactions. While some have viewed the pardon as an act of compassion, particularly toward her children, others have criticised it as undermining justice in a case that had once been seen as a test of the judicial system’s resolve on domestic violence and gender-based killings in Nigeria.
“In exercise of his discretionary power and authority to grant clemency under the Prerogative of Mercy principle, His Excellency, Mr. President recently granted Presidential pardons to a total of 175 convicted persons serving jail sentences for various criminal offences. Some of those on the list included individuals on death row, and others who were pardoned posthumously.
“One name that stood out for us as a family is that of Maryam Sanda, a lady convicted and sentenced to death by the FCT High Court on Monday, 27 January 2020, for the premeditated and cold-blooded murder of her husband and beloved family member of ours, the late Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello.
“Considering the delicately sensitive nature of the situation involving two innocent children of the deceased victim, the family has deliberately refrained from making any public statement or comments since the unfortunate sad incident, which occurred on that fateful night of Sunday, 19, November 2017.
“This was despite several sponsored write-ups from the accused perpetrator’s camp containing a series of falsehoods against the deceased, without factoring the children’s best interest. We, instead, placed our trust and abiding confidence in the nation’s judicial process to run its full course and deliver justice for the deceased victim and his family.
“The appeals process reaffirmed the FCT High Court’s death sentence through the Federal Court of Appeal and Supreme Court judgements of Friday, 4 December 2020, and Friday, 27 October 2023, respectively. 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 judgements 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. 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,” Bilyaminu’s family stated.
The family said they were compelled to issue the formal statement to humanise Bilyaminu, who they said is now suddenly being made to appear as if he is just another faceless anonymous individual in the long line of victims of crimes in the country: a mere statistical figure.
Emphasising that the alleged grounds for Maryam Sanda’s release were predicated on appeals from her family, amongst other considerations, Bilyaminu’s family stated that it is pertinent to stress that Bilyaminu was also a cherished family member who was profoundly loved and deeply mourned by his teeming relations, friends and close associates, following the incident that resulted in his gruesome murder eight years ago.
“Maryam, let’s not forget, had earlier on denied the same children now used to elicit sympathy and secure her release, the opportunity to know what a father’s love and care means.
“Bilyaminu’s family is deeply hurt by this latest development, which we interpret as primarily driven by the sole motivation for appeasing Maryam’s family members by way of extending mercy to a certified convicted murderer, while at the same time overlooking or conveniently ignoring the corresponding inexorable pain that has now been inflicted on the victim’s teeming grieving family members, friends and associates arising from the action,” it said.
However, the deceased’s family noted that they take solace in the simple fact that in such matters, the ultimate comprehensive justice resides purely with the ‘Supreme Judge and our Creator’, who will dispense the matter on the ‘Day of Recompense’ where no one can be at liberty to intercede on behalf of anyone else.
“We beseech Almighty Allah SWT to grant the soul of our dear Bilyaminu eternal rest and grant us the fortitude to continue to bear his sad loss even in the light of this latest development. May Allah also be there at every turn of his children’s needs and raise them to be good obedient Muslims and patriotic Nigerians, Ameen,” the statement said.
