NIGERIA: APPEAL COURT UPHOLDS MARYAM SANDA’S DEATH SENTENCE

The Court of Appeal in the Nigerian capital Abuja on 4 December 2020 affirmed the death penalty imposed on Maryam Sanda, a mother of two, who was sentenced to death for the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello, in November 2017.
Bilyaminu Bello is related to a former Chairman of Nigeria’s main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Haliru Bello.
A three-man panel of the court, in a judgment, dismissed Sandra’s appeal for lacking in merit.
Earlier in January, Justice Yusuf Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, had in his judgment held that circumstantial evidence proved that Maryam “fatally” stabbed her husband to death in Abuja on 19 November 2017.
Maryam had on 19 February 2020, filed a 20-ground notice of appeal, praying for an order discharging, and acquitting her.
She argued that the judgment convicting her was tainted by bias and prejudices resulting in her being denied her right to fair hearing.