The presidential pardon of the convicted husband killer Maryam Sanda has rendered the Nigerian justice system hollow and useless, the family of the slain husband Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello has said.
Maryam Sanda murdered her husband Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello, on Sunday, November 19, 2017. An FCT High Court in Abuja convicted and sentenced her to death on January 27, 2020, a judgment later upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in 2020 and 2023, respectively.
On Saturday, October 11, 2025, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu under the Prerogative of Mercy, granted her full pardon alongside 170 others.
In a statement signed by Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, (Dangaladiman Gwandu), on behalf of the bereaved family, issued on Monday, the late Bilyaminu’s relatives described the decision as a cruel blow that has reopened old wounds and erased the justice painstakingly secured through years of legal battle.
He said the family had chosen silence and dignity since the tragic incident that occurred on Sunday, November 19, 2017, trusting Nigeria’s judicial system to deliver justice.
Their faith, they said, was rewarded when the FCT High Court convicted and sentenced Maryam Sanda to death on January 27, 2020, a judgment later upheld by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in 2020 and 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,” the statement read.
“Although the perpetrator had shown no remorse throughout the saga, the grieving family took solace in the court verdicts and moved on, having painfully come to terms with the fate that life had thrust upon one of our own.”
However, the family said the Presidential pardon, which was among 175 granted to convicted persons, including some on death row has shattered their healing process and rendered the justice system hollow.
“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 added.
The family described the pardon as selective mercy, motivated by political or sentimental appeals from Sanda’s family, while ignoring the excruciating pain inflicted on the victim’s loved ones.
They also reminded the public that Bilyaminu was not “just another faceless statistic” but a beloved son, brother, and father, whose life was “brutally cut short in his prime.”
They further accused Sanda’s supporters of spreading false narratives since the murder, disregarding the emotional wellbeing of the couple’s children, the same children now being used to “evoke public sympathy.”
“Maryam, let’s not forget, had earlier 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.
While expressing profound sorrow, the family declared that their faith in divine justice remains unshaken, believing that “ultimate justice rests with the Supreme Judge and Creator, who will dispense this matter on the Day of Recompense.”
They prayed for Allah’s mercy upon the late Bilyaminu and strength for his children and the entire family to endure what they described as a painful miscarriage of justice.
“May Allah grant the soul of our dear Bilyaminu eternal rest and grant us the fortitude to bear his sad loss even in the light of this latest development,” the family prayed.
