In a decisive ruling, Nigeria’s Supreme Court has reinstated the death penalty for Maryam Sanda, convicted of killing her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, in 2017.
Sanda is the daughter-in-law of a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
A five-judge panel delivered a split verdict of 4-1, dismissing Sanda’s final appeal.
The court found that the prosecution had proven her guilt of culpable homicide beyond a reasonable doubt and upheld the earlier judgments of the High Court and the Court of Appeal, which had sentenced her to death by hanging.
This ruling directly nullifies a prior act of executive clemency. President Bola Tinubu had recently commuted Sanda’s sentence to 12 years in prison on compassionate grounds, citing her good conduct, remorse, and the interest of her children.
However, the Supreme Court strongly criticized this intervention, stating it was wrong for the President to grant a pardon while her appeal was still pending before the judiciary.
Sanda had already served approximately six years and eight months in Suleja prison following her initial conviction by an Abuja High Court on January 27, 2020.
With this Supreme Court judgment, her death sentence has been reaffirmed.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
