By Nana Ismail
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has granted presidential clemency to Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death in 2020 for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.
Sanda, 37, had spent six years and eight months at the Suleja Medium Security Custodial Centre before she was freed under the President’s nationwide pardon programme.
According to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, the clemency was based on the advice of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, led by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
The committee said “Sanda showed good behaviour, deep remorse, and significant personal change during her time in prison, calling her a model inmate who had truly repented.”
“Her family had also pleaded for her release, citing her efforts at rehabilitation and the need to care for her two children.”
Sanda’s pardon was among 175 granted by President Tinubu, including posthumous pardons for Ken Saro-Wiwa, Major General Mamman Vatsa, and Professor Magaji Garba, as part of the government’s effort to promote national unity and justice reform.
