No fewer than seven inmates convicted of murder, culpable homicide, or manslaughter have benefited from President Bola Ahmed Tin...
No fewer than seven inmates convicted of murder, culpable homicide, or manslaughter have benefited from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2025 Presidential Clemency and Sentence Reduction Exercise, according to official details released by the Presidential Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.
The beneficiaries, drawn from correctional centres across the country, were among 175 convicts and former convicts granted freedom or sentence reductions during the nationwide mercy exercise approved by the President last week.
According to the committee, chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi (SAN), the decision followed a careful review of each case, considering factors such as remorse, rehabilitation, age, health, and length of time already served.
Prominent among the homicide-related cases is Maryam Sanda, convicted in 2020 for the culpable homicide of her husband, Bilyaminu Bello. Her death sentence was commuted after she had spent nearly seven years in custody, including pre-trial detention.
Others listed under the homicide category include:
Abubakar Ibrahim, sentenced to life imprisonment for manslaughter, now reduced to 20 years;
Halima Yusuf, convicted of culpable homicide, now serving a 10-year term following good conduct in custody;
Moses Ojo, released after 17 years for manslaughter, on compassionate grounds;
Idris Abdullahi, sentence reduced from life to 15 years for culpable homicide;
Ruth Sunday, freed after nine years of a 25-year term for manslaughter; and
Balarabe Yakubu, whose homicide sentence was commuted to time served due to terminal illness.
The committee clarified that all seven cases involved sentence commutation rather than full pardons — meaning the convictions remain valid, but the punishments were reduced.
Attorney-General Fagbemi said the exercise was part of efforts to decongest correctional centres and ensure the justice system remains humane and reformative, not purely punitive.
“The President’s approval underscores the principle that justice must be tempered with mercy, especially in cases where offenders have shown genuine remorse and commitment to change,” Fagbemi stated.
The clemency exercise also covered other categories, including drug offenders, corruption convicts, and aged or sick inmates, bringing the total beneficiaries to 175 across Nigeria.
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