Nigerians have reacted on X to President Bola Tinubu’s pardon of Maryam Sanda, a lady convicted of k!lling her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, in Abuja in 2017.
Straightnews online reported that Sanda st@bbed her husband three times in the back and severally on his private part at their residence in Pension Estate, Pakali Close, Wuse 2, Abuja on November 17, 2017 over allegations of infidelity.
The murder trial of Maryam Sanda who stabbed her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, son of ex-PDP chairman, Haliru Bello, to death in November last year, continued on April 19th at the High Court in Jabi with one of the prosecuting witnesses telling the court how Maryam stabbed the deceased multiple times leading to his death.
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Ibrahim Mohammed, a businessman and a friend of the deceased, told the court how the incident occurred on the night of November 18, 2017 while he was paying the couple a visit.
She was sentenced to d3ath by hanging by Justice Yusuf Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court on Monday, January 27, 2020.
Maryam was among 175 persons who received the presidential pardon after spending six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre.
This was revealed in the statement released on Saturday, October 11, by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
“Her family pleaded for her release, arguing that it was in the best interest of her two children.”
”The plea was also anchored on her good conduct in jail, her remorse, and her embracement of a new lifestyle, demonstrating her commitment to being a model prisoner,” the statement read.
According to Onanuga, the gesture was made on the recommendation of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi (SAN).
It also stated that the convicts were considered for clemency based on factors such as remorse, good conduct, old age, and rehabilitation through education or vocational training. Some inmates were recognised for their enrolment in the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), while others had demonstrated notable behavioural reform.
Others who received presidential pardons include, illegal miners, white-collar convicts, remorseful drug offenders, foreigners, Major General Mamman Vatsa, Major Akubo, Professor Magaji Garba, capital offenders such as Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the other Ogoni Eight were among the 175 convicts and former convicts.
The announcement has since generated widespread reactions on X.
Barr. Maxwell Opara and Omoyele Sowore reacts to the presidential pardon of Maryam.
One user wrote, “Most of the people Tinubu pardoned are exactly the ones who should still be in prison. Maryam Sanda killed her husband, got a death sentence yet Tinubu set her free after just five years.”
Another user commented, “This Maryam Sanda gist is a distraction. Her husband will get justice where there’s only one judge, and he’s just. Pardoning those drug dealers and Faruk Lawan tells a clear story.”
A third user wrote, “Whatever reason might have been presented to justify the pardon could never have been enough to justify freeing a convicted murderer.”
Another added, “Maryam Sanda who stabbed her husband to death has been granted clemency for the sake of her children. In conclusion, the husband died in vain.”
One user also said, “What message is the government passing by pardoning someone convicted of killing her husband while others face death for lesser offences?”
