Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on Monday convicted Maryam Sanda of the murder of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello.
In his judgment, Justice Yusuf Halilu held that the prosecution has established circumstantial evidence coupled with the testimony of Sanda and statement to the police that she “fatally” stabbed her husband dead in Abuja on November 19, 2017.
Meanwhile, immediately after the court pronounced them guilty, Sanda, who is a mother of two, her mother and relatives present in court broke down in tears.
Her mother ran out of the courtroom as she wept uncontrollably, while her daughter, followed behind in tears.
But Justice Halilu quickly ordered that she should be brought back to the courtroom.
Her deceased husband has been variously reported as a son or nephew of a former Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Haliru Bello.
Meantime, following the ensuing confusion in the courtroom, the defence lawyer attempted to make a plea for allocutus (plea for mercy), but the judge said he needed to rise for the courtroom to be restored to normalcy.