WHEN PREROGATIVE OF MERCY BECOMES AN AFFLICTION OF PAIN

A Statement from the Family of the Late Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello

By Ademola Adekusibe

In the recent exercise of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy, His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, granted clemency to 175 convicted persons serving various jail terms across the country, including some on death row and a few posthumously pardoned.

Among the names on that list, one struck our family with deep sorrow and disbelief: Maryam Sanda, who was convicted and sentenced to death by the FCT High Court on Monday, 27th January 2020, for the premeditated and cold-blooded murder of her husband and our beloved family member, the late Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello.

Since that tragic night of Sunday, 19th November 2017, when Bilyaminu’s life was cruelly cut short, our family has consciously maintained silence, not out of weakness, but out of respect for the judicial process and in consideration of the two innocent children left behind. Despite several misleading narratives sponsored from the camp of the convicted perpetrator, we placed unwavering faith in the courts to deliver justice.

The judicial system did not fail us. The Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Nigeria, on Friday, 4th December 2020 and Friday, 27th October 2023, respectively, reaffirmed the High Court’s judgment. Though no punishment could ever fill the void left by Bilyaminu’s death, those verdicts brought a measure of closure and reaffirmed our trust in the nation’s justice system.

Yet, this latest decision by the Federal Government has cruelly reopened old wounds. To see Maryam Sanda, a woman found guilty beyond reasonable doubt, walk free and unmarked by the enormity of her crime is to witness justice turned on its head. Her release, barely years after taking a life in cold blood, sends a chilling message that life itself may mean little in a nation that swore to uphold the rule of law.

We issue this statement not to rekindle animosity but to humanise Bilyaminu, a loving son, brother, and father whose memory must not be erased or reduced to a mere statistic. The justification that Maryam’s pardon followed appeals from her family must be weighed against the immeasurable pain inflicted upon ours.

Let it not be forgotten that the same children now used to elicit sympathy and mercy were once denied the affection and presence of their father by the very hand that took his life.

As a family, we are left deeply wounded by this decision, which appears to prioritise appeasement over accountability, mercy over justice. In extending compassion to a convicted murderer, the state has inflicted a new and inexorable pain upon the family, friends, and loved ones of Bilyaminu Ahmed Bello, whose only crime was to love and trust the wrong person.