Bilyaminu Bello’s Family Condemns Presidential Pardon for Maryam Sanda, Cites “Inexorable Pain”
The family of the late Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello has issued a strong condemnation of the recent presidential pardon granted to Maryam Sanda, who was convicted of his premeditated murder, stating that the action has “reopened our healing wounds” and inflicted “the worst possible injustice.”
The statement, signed by Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed (OFR) on behalf of the late Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello’s Family, was released following the inclusion of Maryam Sanda’s name on a list of 175 convicted persons who received clemency under the Prerogative of Mercy principle.
Pardon Overrides Supreme Court Conviction
Bilyaminu Bello was killed on November 19, 2017. Maryam Sanda was convicted and sentenced to death by the FCT High Court on January 27, 2020. That judgment was subsequently affirmed by the Federal Court of Appeal in December 2020 and definitively by the Supreme Court on October 27, 2023.
The family explained that they had deliberately refrained from making public statements since the “dastardly crime,” placing their confidence in the judicial process. They noted that the Supreme Court’s affirmation had provided “some closure of sorts.”
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However, the family is now compelled to speak out against the pardon, which they view as undermining the judicial process.
“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 read.
Accusations of Appeasement and Ignoring Victims
The family asserted that the grounds for Sanda’s release—allegedly predicated on appeals from her family and consideration for the couple’s two children—overlooks the victim’s memory and the pain of his extensive family.
“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,” the statement noted.
The family expressed belief that the pardon was “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.”
The family concluded by stating they take solace in the fact that the ultimate comprehensive justice rests with the Supreme Judge and their Creator.
By PRNigeria
