In a move that’s sparked national outrage and reopened deep wounds, the family of Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello — the young man brutally stabbed to death by his wife, Maryam Sanda, in a shocking 2017 domestic murder — has come out swinging against the recent Presidential pardon that set his convicted killer free.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to include Sanda among 175 prisoners granted clemency under the Prerogative of Mercy has been slammed by the Bello family as a “cruel and calculated insult,” tearing apart what little healing time had offered since the harrowing night Bilyaminu’s life was snuffed out in cold blood.
In a strongly worded statement signed by Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, OFR (Dangaladiman Gwandu), the family didn’t mince words. “This pardon is a slap in the face of justice — a brutal reminder that, in Nigeria, connections and sentiment can whitewash even the bloodiest of crimes,” the statement read.
Back in 2017, Nigerians were horrified as news broke that Sanda had viciously attacked and killed her husband in their Abuja home, reportedly over allegations of infidelity. After a lengthy legal battle, she was sentenced to death by hanging in 2020 — a verdict reaffirmed by both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. It was a rare, hard-won moment of justice in a country where such outcomes are far too elusive.
“For years, we kept quiet. We chose dignity over drama,” the Bello family said. “We believed in the legal system. We endured the pain. We accepted the verdicts. Now, this pardon rips the scab off a wound that never truly healed.”
To the family, the decision isn’t just tone-deaf — it’s a “grotesque betrayal” of the justice system and the memory of a man they say was more than just another crime statistic. “Bilyaminu was a son, a brother, a father — a bright light extinguished at the peak of his life,” the statement continued. “And now his killer walks free, as if all she did was squash an insect.”
The family didn’t hold back on what they view as the sinister undertones behind the pardon, calling it “selective mercy” — the result of backroom lobbying and emotional manipulation dressed up as compassion.
“They used the children Maryam once denied their father’s love as props for sympathy. Let’s not forget — she robbed them of a father. Now they’re being used to humanise her. It’s a sick irony.”
Sanda’s lack of remorse was also put on blast. “She never showed an ounce of regret. Not once. Yet here we are, watching her waltz back into the world, her slate wiped clean, while we’re left to pick up the pieces of a shattered family.”
While condemning the decision, the family took solace in their faith, stating that while man’s justice may fail, divine justice never does.
“Let the world do what it will. Allah is the ultimate Judge. There will be a Day of Reckoning,” they declared, adding a heartfelt prayer for Bilyaminu’s soul and for the strength to endure what they call an unforgivable miscarriage of justice.
