On Friday, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty that lower courts had imposed on Maryam Sanda, a housewife in Abuja, overturning President Bola Tinubu’s pardon.
After killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, after a domestic argument in 2020, Sanda was given a death by hanging sentence.
In the lead ruling, Justice Moore Adumein stated that the Court of Appeal was correct to have upheld the trial court’s decision and that the prosecution had proven the case beyond a reasonable doubt as needed.
According to Adumein, it was improper for the Executive to try to use its pardoning authority in a culpable homicide case where an appeal was still pending.
She filed an appeal against her, but the Apex Court dismissed it for lack of merit after resolving all of the concerns.
Sanda’s death sentence from the Court of Appeal was upheld by the Supreme Court in a four-to-one divided ruling.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court’s decision to execute her by hanging was upheld by the appeal court.
Sanda’s sentence was recently lowered by President Tinubu to 12 years in jail due to compassion.
