Appeal Court Confirms Maryam Sanda’s Death Sentence
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has validated the death sentence on Maryam Sanda for killing her husband, Bilyamin Mohammed Bello.
Maryam, unsatisfied with the death sentence approached the Court of Appeal so as to upturn the judgement of the trail court.
The Appellant through her legal team described the trial court judgement as “a miscarriage of Justice”.
She added 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 withnessed and lack of autopsy report to determine the true cause of her husband’s death”.
She 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 judgement
Recall that Sanda wwas accused of homicide was later convicted and sentence to death by hanging on 27 of January, 2020 by Yusuf Halilu, the trial Judge.
Justice Halilu in his judgement said, “she should reap what she has shown, for it has been said that ‘thou shall not kill” and whoever kills in cold blood deserves death as his own reward”.
He added that, “Convicts also clearly deserves to die, accordingly I hereby sentence Maryam Sanda to death by hanging until she dies”.
Unfortunately, the court of Appeal on Friday upheld her death sentence.
