A Federal Capital Territory High
Court sitting in Jabi, Abuja, has granted bail to Maryam Sanda, who was accused
by the police of killing her husband. Justice Yusuf Halilu, granted the motion
for bail yesterday after rejecting same on three previous occasions.
After the
court struck out Maryam’s last bail application on February 6, the matter was
adjourned to March 19 for definite hearing. But Maryam’s counsel, Chief Joseph
Daudu (SAN), approached the court with the fresh bail application and asked for
an earlier date to move it. Counsel to the police, CSP James Idachaba, again opposed
to the granting of the bail. However, Justice Halilu said the court was
satisfied with the health reasons canvassed for Maryam, who is said to be over
three months pregnant and also asthmatic. The judge held that the police were
not able to counter the claims that the prisons’ health facilities could not
take care of Maryam’s conditions. Justice Halilu ruled that Maryam should
provide two sureties who must deposit their titles of ownership of landed
properties in Abuja. He also ordered that Maryam’s father should enter into an
undertaken to always provide her in court all through the trial. Maryam is
standing trial over the alleged murder of her husband, Bilyamin, the son of the
former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Bello Halliru Mohammed.
In count one of the amended charge, the police alleged that Maryam had caused
the death of her husband, Bilyamin Bello, “by stabbing him on the chest and
other parts of the body with a knife and other dangerous weapons which
eventually led to his death.” The second count charge states that her mother
Maimuna, her brother Aliyu, as well as one Sadiya Aminu, with the knowledge
that a murder has been committed, “cause evidence of the offence to disappear.”
The police alleged that the trio cleaned the blood from the crime scene with
the intention of screening Maryam from legal punishment.
No comments:
Post a Comment