Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the death sentence imposed on a woman, Maryam Sanda for killing her husband, Bilyamin Mohammed Bello.
Bello, nephew of Haliru Mohammed, a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was stabbed to death after a minor disagreement with his wife in November, 2017.
Sanda was arrested shortly after and was arraigned alongside three others on a two-count charge bordering on culpable homicide.
She was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on January 27, 2020, by Yusuf Halilu, the trial judge.
Read Also: Court Sentences Maryam Sanda To Death For Killing Husband
Halilu giving the judgement 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.
Convict also clearly deserves to die, accordingly I hereby sentence Maryam Sanda to death by hanging until she dies.
Aggrieved by the death sentence, Sanda approached the appellate court seeking to upturn the trial court’s judgment.
Read Also: Convicted Husband Killer, Maryam Sanda Appeals Her Death Sentence
In a notice of appeal predicated on 20 grounds, the appellant through her legal team described the judgment of the trial court as “a miscarriage of justice”.
She submitted that the judge relied on circumstantial evidence as there was;
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.
Sanda 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…
However, the appellate court on Friday, December 4 upheld the death sentence.
More details to come.
