The family of late Bilyaminu Bello has criticised the clemency granted to Maryam Sanda, who was sentenced to death for killing her husband, Bello, in 2017.

In a statement issued on Monday on behalf of the deceased’s family, Bello Mohammed stated that Sanda’s pardon “reopened healing wounds”.

Sanda was one of 175 people who received a presidential pardon and other types of amnesty from President Bola Tinubu last Thursday after the national council of state approved it.

The presidency stated that Sanda’s family lobbied for her release in the best interests of her two children, and that she behaved well in prison.

Sanda was arrested in November 2017 after stabbing her husband to death over alleged adultery.

However, she claimed that the late Bello died after tripping over a broken piece of ‘Shisha’ pot following a fight.

Bello was the nephew of Haliru Mohammed Bello, the former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Sanda faces two counts of culpable homicide.

In January 2020, a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) high court declared Sanda guilty of Bello’s murder and sentenced her to hanging.

In December 2020, the Abuja Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s verdict and dismissed Sanda’s appeal. The Supreme Court followed suit.

In the statement, the deceased’s family stated that Sanda’s freedom is the “worst possible injustice any family could be forced to endure for a loved one.”

The family said the judgments of the courts on the case “provided some closure of sorts in the circumstance”, adding that the convict did not show any remorse during the trial.

“Satisfied that justice had finally been served, the judgment provided some closure of sorts in the circumstance, if ever there could be one,” the statement reads.

“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.

“The alleged grounds for Maryam Sanda’s release were predicated on appeals from her family, amongst other considerations.

“It is pertinent to stress that Bilyaminu was also our cherished family member who was profoundly loved and deeply mourned by his teeming relations, friends and close associates following the unfortunate 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.”