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Tag: Maryam Sanda

  • BREAKING: Appeal Court upholds death sentence for killer wife, Maryam Sanda

    BREAKING: Appeal Court upholds death sentence for killer wife, Maryam Sanda

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has upheld the death sentence handed a mother of one, Maryam Sanda, convicted for murdering her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, a cousin of former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Haliru Bello.

    A three-man panel of the court, in a judgment on Friday afternoon, dismissed Sandra’s appeal for lacking in merit.

    She was earlier this year, by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama, convicted for murder and ordered to be hanged.

    Delivering the earlier judgement in Abuja on January 27, 2020, Justice Halilu said; “She should reap what she has sown, for it has been said that ‘thou shall not kill’ and whoever kills in cold blood deserves death as his own reward,” for killing her husband over a mere misunderstanding

    However, Sanda approached the appellate court, seeking to upturn the judgment in a notice of appeal which predicated on 20 grounds.

    The appellant through her legal team described the judgment of the trial court as “a miscarriage of justice” and also submitted that the trial judge “erred and misdirected himself by usurping the role of the police when he assumed the duty of an investigating police officer (IPO) as contained in page 76 of his judgment…”

    She quoted the trial Judge to have said: “I wish to state that I have a duty thrust upon me to investigate and discover what will satisfy the interest and demands of justice.”

    Maryam, through her lawyer, Mr J. K. Gadazama, SAN, maintained that the trial judge failed to restrict himself to the evidence that was adduced before the court.

    “The court’s usurpation of the duty of the police by taking it upon itself to investigate and discover negatively coloured its assessment of the available evidence and resulted in it reaching an unjust decision contrary to the evidence before it”, she argued.

    She prayed the appellate court to set aside her conviction and the sentence imposed by the high court Judge and acquit her of the charge. However, the appellate court, in the lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Adah, said it was not in doubt that the appellant killed her husband.

    The appellate court, however, faulted the trial court judge for his failure to rule on Maryam’s preliminary objection before he delivered final judgement in the matter.

    It, therefore, invoked its powers under section 6(6) (a) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and dismissed Maryam’s pending preliminary objection for want of merit. The court held that the trial judge was right in his verdict, stressing that the offence of culpable homicide committed by the appellant, is punishable by death under section 221 of the Penal Code.

    The court noted that there was evidence that the appellate murdered her husband during a fight that ensued after she saw a nude picture of a girl on his phone.

    The trial court had based its judgement on circumstantial evidence before it, Maryam’s testimony during the trial and her statement before the police, which it said established that she fatally stabbed her husband to death in Abuja on November 19, 2017. The court ordered that the convict should remain at the Correctional Center in Suleja till she exhausts her right of appeal.

    Police had in the charge marked CR/15/17 which it filed pursuant to section 109(d) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, alleged that Maryam stabbed her husband to death with a broken bottle, at their Abuja residence. The prosecution told the court that Bilyamin died as a result of several stabs on his chest and neck.

    Police maintained that the defendant attacked her husband with the knowledge that her act was likely to cause his death.

    She was equally charged with the offence of “causing grievous hurt”, contrary to section 247 of the Penal Code Law. Though Maryam’s mother, Maimuna Aliyu, her brother, Aliyu Sanda and one Sadiya Aminu, were initially charged as co-defendant in the matter, they were later discharged by the court.

    The prosecution had alleged that Maryam’s family members attempted to destroy evidence that linked her to the murder. Maryam who is the mother of two had in her testimony during the trial, denied the allegation that she killed her husband. She claimed that her husband slipped and fell to a broken Shisha pot.

  • FACT CHECK: Killer wife, Maryam Sanda granted presidential amnesty?

    FACT CHECK: Killer wife, Maryam Sanda granted presidential amnesty?


    The internet is presently flooded with reports that Maryam Sanda, the woman convicted and sentenced to death by hanging for killing her husband, had been granted a Presidential pardon.

    Recall that on January 27, an FCT High Court in Maitama sentenced Sanda to death for killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello. Sanda killed her husband on November 19, 2017, through multiple stabbing.

    However, the news of her release was widely circulated on different social media platforms on Thursday Maryam made the lists of those granted amnesty by President Muhammadu Buhari – the list released by Buhari reportedly covered five inmates and clemency to another 2,593 prisoners, had pardoned her.

    TheNewsGuru decided to fact-check the report of presidential pardon given to Sanda as widely shared online.

    MARY SANDA STILL IN CUSTODY: REACTION FROM NIGERIAN CORRECTIONAL SERVICE

    A statement released by the NCoS spokesperson, Chucks Njoku on Sanda’s rumored release reads: “The attention of Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has been drawn to the news making the rounds that Maryam Sanda was granted presidential pardon last week Thursday April 9th, 2020 alongside some 70 other inmates at the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kuje.

    “The Service wants to categorically state that the news is fake and very unrealistic and an attempt to rubbish the good intention of the President towards decongesting the custodial centres.” While addressing the press conference last week, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola had clearly stated the categories of inmates qualified for the amnesty are: Convicts who are Sixty (60) years and above, convicts serving 3 years and above with less than 6 months to serve, inmates with ill-health likely to terminate in death, inmates with mental ill-health and inmates with option of fine not exceeding N50,000 with no pending case.

    “Others are: Convicted pregnant women, convicted women with child, convicted inmates with minor offences and convicted inmates who spent 75% of their sentence after remission. Njoku said Sanda did not meet any of the requirements and therefore did not benefit from the Presidential Pardon/Clemency.

    “We further want to assure the public that Maryam Sanda is in our custody and will remain as such,” he said, calling on the public to discountenance the rumor that Sanda benefited from the presidential pardon.

    ANOTHER EVIDENCE: MARY SANDA UNQUALIFIED FOR PARDON

    Apart from the statement released by NCos, another strong evidence why Maryam Sanda doesn’t qualify to be part of the programme is that Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, had earlier disclosed at a World Press Conference organised by NCoS on Thursday 9th, April, 2020 stated in clear terms that the Buhari’s gesture is part of the recommendations of 2020 Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy (PACPM) and doesn’t extend to inmates sentenced for violent extreme offences such as terrorism, kidnapping, armed banditry, rape, human trafficking, culpable homicide and so on (Category Mary Sanda belongs to, having been convicted as a murder).

    He said partly; “a total number of 2,600 inmates spread across our various custodial centres qualify to benefit from the amnesty. These include 885 convicts who could not pay their fines totalling N21.4 million which the government will pay on their behalf to enable them get their freedom. “From this number, 41 inmates are federal convicts, two of which have been granted pardon.” He also said five ex-convicts recommended for presidential pardon have been so pardoned. “They are late Prof Ambrose Ali, Late Chief Anthony Enahoro, Ex Lt. Col. Moses Effiong, Major E.J. Olanrewaju and Ajayi Olusola Babalola,” Aregbesola added. Prof Ali was the governor of the old Bendel State in the Second Republic (1978-1983) and a great progressive while Chief Enahoro was a foremost nationalist who moved the motion for Nigeria’s independence. Aregbesola said the amnesty will not apply to inmates sentenced for violent extreme offences such as terrorism, kidnapping, armed banditry, rape, human trafficking, culpable homicide and so on.

    The two major points raised in this report show that the popular views on social media, speculating that Maryam Sanda is walking free in the Nigerian society is apparently false.

  • Death penalty: Maryam Sanda appeals against court judgment

    Following her conviction by an FCT High Court over the alleged killing of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, Maryam Sanda has approached the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, asking the court to set aside the verdict and acquit her.
    Sanda, who was sentenced to death by hanging by Justice Yusuf Halilu on Jan. 27, said the trial judge “was tainted by bias and prejudices.”
    According to her, this led to the denial of her right to fair hearing and her consequent conviction based on circumstantial evidence despite the reasonable doubt that was created by evidence of witnesses, lack of confessional statement, absence of murder weapon, lack of corroboration of evidence by two or more witnesses and lack of autopsy report to determine the true cause of her husband’s death.
    In a notice of appeal predicated on 20 grounds and filed by her legal team composed of Rickey Tarfa, SAN, Olusegun Jolaawo, SAN, Regina Okotie-Eboh and Beatrice Tarfa, the applicant said the judgment of the trial court was completely “a miscarriage of justice.”
    She pointed to the failure of the trial judge to rule, one way or the other, on her preliminary objection, challenging the charge preferred against her and the jurisdiction of the court as evidence of bias and a denial of her right to fair hearing as constitutionally guaranteed.
    In her application, she said: “The honourable trial judge erred in law when having taken arguments on the appellant’s preliminary objection to the validity of the charge on the 19th of March, 2018 failed to rule on it at the conclusion of trial or at any other time.
    “The trial judge exhibited bias against the defendant in not ruling one way or the other on the said motion challenging his jurisdiction to entertain the charge and therefore fundamentally breached the right to fair hearing of the defendant.”
    In ground II, the appellant contended that the trial judge erred and misdirected himself by usurping the role of the police when he assumed the duty of an Investigating Police Officer (IPO) as contained in Page 76 of his judgment.
    It was submitted that “the circumstantial evidence which the trial court relied upon in its application of the last seen doctrine does not lead to the conclusion that the defendant is responsible for the death of the deceased.”
    Consequently, Sanda prayed the Court of Appeal to allow her appeal, set aside her conviction and sentence imposed by Justice Halilu and acquit her
    No date has been fixed for hearing in the matter.

  • Witness reveals how Maryam Sanda made attempts to stab husband before murder

    A witness has revealed in details how Maryam Sanda made several attempt attempts to stab her husband, Bilyamin Bello before eventually killing him the night she did.

    Recall that Sanda is standing trial for the alleged murder of Bello, who was her husband and son of former Peoples Democratic Party Chairman, Bello Haliru.

    The witness, Ibrahim Mohammed, said he was with the deceased for over eight hours, the night before his death; and witnessed several attempts by the first defendant, Ms Sanda, to kill him.

    According to Mohammed, a friend of Bilayamin, Sanda asked her husband for divorce and appeared bent on getting it that night.

    The witness said she threatened several times to chop off his sex organ if he declined to give her freedom from their marriage.

    Mohammed told the court that while he was watching television with the deceased at the couple’s residence that fateful day, he heard Sanda calling her husband from upstairs.

    “He went to meet her, but soon returned to the sitting room,” said Mohammed.

    The witness further explained that the accused soon came herself to call her husband a second time in the sitting room.

    “Soon after they returned upstairs, I heard noise coming from there. Maryam sent the fourth defendant to call me. When I got there I saw both of them holding each other to the throat.

    “I enquired to know what was happening and asked them to stop fighting. The first defendant asked me to tell her husband to divorce her, but I asked her to take things calm. She said she was not going anywhere until he divorced her,” Mohammed told the court.

    Mohammed said he tried disengaging Sanda’s hand from her husband’s neck. He added that shortly after separating the couple, the first defendant rushed to break a bottle of groundnut on the wall and tried stabbing her husband with it.

    “She came straight at Bilyamin to stab him. I held her hands and Bilyamin went behind her and collected the broken bottle from her hands and went downstairs. I closed the door and continued to advise Maryam that they should stop fighting.

    “She said she would not stop until Bilyamin divorced her that night; that either he divorced her or she would cut his private part.

    “While pleading with her, Bilyamin entered the bedroom and Maryam followed him, insisting that he should divorce her that night but Bilyamin kept silent,” Mohammed said.

    The witness narrated that the first defendant made another attempt to stab her husband after breaking another bottle of perfume, but her husband collected the bottle, pushed her to the bed and left the room.

    “The first defendant then went to the kitchen and picked a knife with which she attempted again to stab the deceased,” said the witness who added that Bilyamin collected the knife from the defendant but that she made three other attempts to collect the knife.

    “She attempted picking the knife for about three or four times,” he said.

    At that point, the witness said he tried to make a number of calls. When one of those whom he called arrived the house, Mr Mohammed said he went with the deceased to treat the injury sustained from a bite inflicted upon him by Ms Sanda.

    They later returned to the house and were subsequently joined by a third person who chatted briefly with them at the sitting room.

    “When we returned, the first defendant was not at home. She later returned and started playing with the baby,” added Mr Mohammed.

    To avoid being seen as coming in-between the couples, the visitors decide to leave, the witness narrated. While leaving, Mr. Mohammed said he narrated what happened before his arrival to his friend who wondered why they left the house, given the violence between the couple.

    Mr. Mohammed said they made further attempts to call the deceased on phone, without success.

    Mr. Mohammed added that he later received a call from Bilyamin’s brother that Bilyamin had been killed.

    “I went to Maitama Hospital after that call and met Bilyaminu lying on a bed in front of the hospital. There was a hole in his chest near the heart, bite on his stomach. There was a cut on his thigh and there was a sign of stitching on him,” he said.

    During cross-examination, Mr. Mohammed told the court that the deceased was not badly injured before he left the house. He also said although Ms Sanda threatened to cut off her husband’s sex organ, she never actually threatened to kill him.

    The trial judge, Yusuf Halilu adjourned the matter to May 15.

     

  • Court adjourns trial of ‘killer wife’ Maryam Sanda as witness disappears

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has adjourned the trial of Maryam Sanda to April 19, 2018, to enable the prosecution to call its first witness.

    The defence counsel Mr Joseph Daudu, had on behalf of Mrs Sanda made an application for the charges to be dismissed because it is incompetent, null and void.

    Mr Daudu had argued that the charges which were filed as an originating summon ought to be by the Attorney-General of the Federation and not the police.

    He also argued that the police ought to file it through first information but in the instant case it has not been done.

    The Police Prosecutor, therefore, asked the court to reject the application of the defendant because it is misconceived.

    He said that the administration of Criminal Justice Act is the only operational law in the FCT and the law has laid down procedures for filing a criminal charge which the police has adhered to.

    The court had on March 7, 2017, granted her (Sanda) bail on the grounds that she is pregnant, ill and requires medical attention.

    She was remanded in Suleja Prisons on November 24, 2017, for allegedly killing her husband at his Maitama home in Abuja, by allegedly stabbing him several times based on allegations of infidelity after seeing a text message on his phone.

    He was later rushed to the hospital where he eventually died.

    She was in December denied bail as no cogent reason was brought forward by the defence counsel.

    However, the FCT Police Command filed two counts of culpable homicide against her.

    Although she pleaded not guilty, the accused was remanded in prison custody.

    The development took a different turn on when the police amended the charges, joining the mother of the accused, her brother, and one of her relatives in the suit.

    The trial could not continue as the prosecutor said efforts by the police to serve the three other defendants proved abortive.

    Maryam’s lawyer had requested that his client is released on interim bail because she is a nursing mother, but the prosecution counsel argued that the application should not be taken since the charge had been amended.

  • Maimuna Aliyu’s trial: Court fines ICPC’s lawyer over failure to producinge witnesses

    An FCT High Court in Jabi yesterday berated the attitude of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in the trial of a former Executive Director of Aso Savings and Loans, Maimuna Aliyu.

    Aliyu was arraigned by the ICPC on a three-counts charge with the first count accusing her of selling off three plots of land in Jahi District, Abuja, on behalf of the bank at the cost of N57 million without remitting same to the bank.

    At the resumed hearing yesterday, the prosecution counsel, Osuobeni Akponimisingha told the court he was unable to bring any of the 11 listed witnesses to court and prayed the court for an adjournment.

    Ruling on the request for adjournment, the trial judge, Justice Mairo Nasir said the court was disappointed with the failure of the prosecution to bring any of its witnesses to court for the trial to begin in earnest.

    She therefore ordered Akponimisingha to personally pay the sum of N50,000 into the coffers of the government and produce evidence of payment on May 11, the next adjourned date.

    Maimuna Aliyu is the mother of Maryam Sanda who was accused by the police of killing her husband, Bilyamin Bello.

  • Court grants bail to alleged husband killer, Maryam Sanda

    Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court, Jabi, on Wednesday granted bail to Maryam Sanda, who allegedly killed her husband, Bilyaminu Bello on Nov. 19, 2017.

    Bilyaminu was the son of Haliru Bello, former National Chairman of PDP.

    The judge granted the bail following a new motion filed before the court by her counsel, Mr Joseph Daudu (SAN).

    Halilu ordered Sanda to produce two sureties who must reside within the court’s jurisdiction and must have a landed property in the FCT.

    The judge also ordered that the biological father of the defendant must sign an undertaking with the court to produce her on demand at every court sitting.

    Halilu adjourned the case until March 19 for hearing.

    In the motion, Dauda asked the court to consider the present health challenge of the defendant.

    He prayed the court to grant her bail, as the defendant’s health had deteriorated drastically since her arrest and detention on Nov.19.

    The counsel also said that the Suleja Prison where the defendant was kept has no adequate medical facilities to take care of her health challenge.

    He also drew the court’s attention that the defendant is pregnant and also carrying a nine-month old baby.

    Recall that the defendant was first arraigned in November 2017 for alleged culpable homicide and conspiracy alongside her mother, Mrs Maimuna Aliyu.

    Others are Aliyu Sanda, the brother and their housemaid Sadiya Aminu.

    The three others were granted bail on Dec. 14, 2017, but Maryam was denied bail and remanded in Suleja Prison.

  • Court rejects bail for ‘Killer wife’, Maryam Sanda

    The Federal Capital Territory High Court has struck out an application for bail by daughter-in-law of former Peoples Democratic Party chairman, Haliru Bello.

    The daughter-in-law, Maryam Sanda, is facing trial on allegations of homicide for the alleged killing of her husband, Bilyamin Bello. The deceased was a son to former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bello Haliru.

    The tragic incident occurred in Abuja on November 19, 2017.

    She was arrested and subsequently remanded in Suleja prison.

    Joesph Daudu, Sanda’s counsel, had in December prayed the court to grant his client bail over health reasons and the need to attend to her 6-month-old baby.

    But Yusuf Halilu, the presiding judge, struck out the application.

    On Monday, Daudu, again, asked the court to grant Sanda bail, claiming that his client was three months pregnant.

    “My lord, the new fact is that she is three months pregnant and I have done my research,” Daudu told the court.

    But James Idachaba, the prosecuting lawyer, prayed the court to reject the application on grounds that it constituted an abuse of court of process, because Sanda failed to withdraw her notice of appeal challenging the December 14 ruling declining her bail.

    Daudu argued that the notice of appeal was technically dead since it had not been processed within the time limit allowed by law.

    But Idachaba maintained that since there had not been any application filed before the appeal court withdrawing the notice of appeal, it was still valid as of the time of filing the fresh application on January 24.

    Halilu ruled in favour of the prosecutor, saying it would amount to toeing “a path of destruction” to grant Sanda bail since the applicant’s notice of appeal against the court was still pending.

    “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for his (Daudu’s) argument to sway this court,” Halilu said.

    “The argument has not in anyway swayed me.

    “The application is liable to be struck out and it is accordingly struck out.”

  • Police arraign Maryam Sanda, mother, brother for allegedly murdering ex-PDP chairman’s son

    The Nigerian Police Force on Thursday arraigned Maryam Sanda; her mother, Maimuna Aliyu; her brother, Aliyu Sanda; and a fourth defendant, Sadiya Aminu for the alleged murder of Biliyanu Bello, late son of a former Peoples Democratic Party chairman, Mohammed Bello.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Sanda was accused of killing her husband, Biliyanu Bello, over allegations of infidelity. They had been married for two years, before the incident occurred in November.

    On Thursday, Mrs. Sanda’s mother, Maimuna, who is also facing a separate charge of fraud, was arraigned with her daughter alongside two others.

    According to the new charge, the defendants are accused of culpable homicide and obstruction of justice. Mrs. Sanda was covered in a blue veil, with her face bent down while the charges were read.

     

    Details later…

  • Concealment of evidence: Maryam Sanda’s mother, Maimuna Aliyu charged with Bilyamin’s murder

    A former executive director of Aso Savings and Loans Maimuna Aliyu, her son Aliyu Sanda, and another lady were yesterday charged by the FCT Police Command for alleged concealment of evidence at the crime scene of the suspected murder of their son-in-law, Bilyamin Bello, by her daughter Maryam Sanda.

    This was contained in an amended charge filed by the police at the resumed hearing of the murder case holding at the FCT High Court Abuja.

    Maryam is standing trial over the alleged murder of her husband, Bilyamin, the son of the former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Bello Halliru Mohammed.

    In count one of the amended charge, the police alleged that Maryam had caused the death of her husband, Bilyamin Bello, “by stabbing him on the chest and other parts of the body with a knife and other dangerous weapons which eventually led to his death.”

    The second count charge states that her mother Maimuna, her brother Aliyu, as well as one Sadiya Aminu, with the knowledge that a murder has been committed, “cause evidence of the offence to disappear.”

    The police alleged that the trio cleaned the blood from the crime scene with the intention of screening Maryam from legal punishment.

    Several reports in the media had said the CCTV footage recovered from the residence of the deceased had revealed Maimuna as one of the people that entered the house after Maryam had rushed the deceased to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

    Maimuna is being prosecuted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over fraud allegations committed during her stint at the Aso Savings and Loans.

    Maryam hires Daudu, sent back to prison

    At the resumed hearing yesterday, Police Prosecutor, CSP James Idachaba, told the court that all efforts to serve the amended charge on Maimuna and the others have proved abortive.

    He said the ICPC had also been having challenges bringing Maimuna to court for arraignment in a case of fraud filed against her.

    He, therefore, pleaded with the court to allow the prosecution to continue with the trial of Maryam based on the count one of the charge where she was the only one mentioned.

    But the trial judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu said he wants everything to be done properly before coming to court.

    “You must be very serious and show commitment to what you are doing. Make extra efforts to serve the other defendants. I want to have all of them together before me so they can take their pleas together,” the judge said.

    The prosecutor thereby asked the court to adjourn the matter to Thursday, December 14 to enable the police to bring all the defendants to court so they can take their pleas together.

    Maryam’s new lawyer, Joseph Daudu (SAN), a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), however, applied to the court to hear the bail application filed on Maryam’s behalf since it was already before the court.

    However, Justice Halilu ruled in favour of the prosecutor and said the bail would be taken after the re-arraignment.

    Not satisfied with this, Daudu pleaded with the court, this time orally, to release Maryam on bail pending Thursday when fresh pleas would be taken.

    He said the prison condition was unwholesome for Maryam’s six-month-old baby.

    “It is unfortunate that a life has been lost already, but we should not take more lives,” the counsel said.

    However, after another objection by the police prosecutor, Justice Halilu held that he was not disposed to grant the oral bail application since issues have been joined on the formal application for bail.

    “The defendant in the main time shall be returned to the prison pending Thursday, December 14,” judge ruled.

    Bilyamin’s family sends lawyers to observe proceedings

    Maryam was represented at her first appearance by lawyers from the chambers of Ricky Tarfa (SAN) & Co and one of the lawyers confirmed to our reporter that the chamber is still involved in the trial even as Daudu has been brought in.

    While Daudu only announced five lawyers as part of those with him in line with the new directive of the Supreme Court, it was observed that lawyers in the defence team were over 10.

    Apart from the police and Maryam’s counsels, the family of the deceased also made an appearance in the trial just as they did during her arraignment on November 24.

    Two lawyers announced appearance yesterday to be observing the proceeding on behalf of the nominal complainant.

    Earlier, the judge had ordered that Maryam’s daughter in the custody of a relative, be taken out of court after the baby’s persistent crying.

    The baby continued crying outside the courtroom throughout the proceedings.

    Maryam had approached the dock with the baby before she was signaled by her lawyers to hand over the baby to a relative.

    With her face still hidden behind a veil, the judge ordered her to make her face visible to the court, saying “I have to be sure of who is standing trial before me.”