Police Confirm Arrest of Maryam Sanda for Stabbing Husband to Death

•  More facts emerge on how she allegedly killed her spouse

The Nigerian Police have confirmed the arrest of Maryam Sanda for allegedly stabbing her husband, Bilyaminu Haliru Bello, to death.

Bilyaminu, 35, son of Dr. Mohammed Haliru Bello, a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been buried according to Islamic rites in Abuja, after prayers at the National Mosque.

Police Public Relations Officer, DPS Anjuguri Manzah, in a chat with newsmen said that the suspect was arrested on Sunday morning. He said that she would be charged to court after investigations have been concluded.

According to the police, the investigation was being handled by its homicide department, maintaining that investigation would be concluded soon.

Maryam is the daughter of Maimuna Aliyu, a former Aso Saving Bank executive.
According to reports, Maryam allegedly killed her husband in the wee hours of Sunday morning by stabbing him several times.

Multiple reports said she attacked her husband based on allegations of infidelity after seeing a text message on his phone.

Maryam was said to have stabbed Bello, who would have turned 36 on November 23, thrice in the back. She also reportedly stabbed him several times in his genitals.

After stabbing him, she drove him to the hospital for treatment but he did not survive the attack.
Anjuri Manza, spokesman of the FCT police command, confirmed the murder: “We are investigating the matter.”
According to reports, it was not the first time Maryam would attack Bilyaminu violently.

She once bit off part of his ear during an argument. Bello was treated at a hospital before returning home. Some reports said he was advised to leave the house but he refused, only to be brutally attacked the second time.
The couple had a daughter together.

Bilyaminu’s father was the acting chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees from 2015-2016, Minister of Defence from 2011-2012, and Minister of Communications from 2001-2003.

Also, more facts came to light Tuesday on how Maryam allegedly stabbed her husband to death, as one Habib Gajam, a resident of Abuja, has spoken on the incident.

Gajam, who said he witnessed the incident, explained how trouble started on Saturday night, reported The Cable Tuesday.

Recounting what transpired on Twitter, Gajam said Sanda had demanded a divorce.
He said Ibrahim Aliero, Bilyaminu’s friend, subsequently “intervened four times to stop Maryam from stabbing her husband”.

When he could not make much headway, their relatives were invited to intervene in the situation after which peace was restored, albeit temporarily.

“Ibrahim called Auta (Maryam’s uncle) and Abba (Bilyaminu’s cousin) who had left the house moments before the drama started, to come and intervene. After a short calm, Maryam broke a bottle containing some groundnut and attempted to stab Bilyaminu, again,” he wrote.

“This time he held both of her hands and struggled to take the bottle from her, injuring himself in the process. Unrelenting and wild, she bit his finger. Uncle Auta had arrived this time to calm the situation.

“They both committed to Uncle Auta to let go of the grievances (at least for the night). After the situation had become calm, Bilyaminu and his friend went to the pharmacy to get his hand treated from the bite he sustained from Maryam.

“They later went to the ATM and made a withdrawal to pay up the balance of a spare part for Maryam’s crashed car. By 11 p.m., Bilyaminu and Ibrahim had gone back to a calm home. Abba (Bilyaminu’s cousin) joined them in the living room.

“They stayed till almost midnight and decided to call it a night. When Bilyaminu was seeing them off, he told Ibrahim, ‘I don’t want to go back until she’s asleep.’ They called it a day. Abba and Ibrahim left.”

He added that the next time they heard of Bilyamin and Maryam was around 2 a.m. when “family members were summoned to a Maitama hospital, where Bilyaminu was lying in a pool of his own blood with multiple stabs on his chest, shoulder, a deep cut on his inner thigh, and many bite wounds on his stomach”.

“Maryam had confessed to stabbing him to the hospital authorities,” he wrote, adding: “Maitama police station was the next point of call.

“At Maitama station where Maryam was asked to write her statement, the story changed. She claimed they got involved in a fight and Bilyaminu sustained injuries from a broken shisha pot; that she never stabbed or hit him.

“She was later taken to the FCT command in Garki II for further investigation. The police commissioner instructed that the crime scene should be visited.

“To the amazement of Abba (Bilyaminu’s cousin) and Ibrahim (his friend) who are key witnesses in the investigation, bloodstains had been mopped up, murder weapon disappeared, but flower vases and a shisha pot were broken to corroborate Maryam’s earlier statement at the station.”

Gajam’s claims were not independently verified, but Anjuri Manza, spokesman of FCT police command, had said on Sunday that the police had commenced investigation into the matter.