Rahma Hussein, a 23-year-old woman, has been pardoned years after she was convicted of killing her husband.
In 2014, Hussein, then a 16-year-old, was arrested and charged to a high court in Kano for stabbing her husband to death a day after their wedding.
Delivering the judgement in 2018, R.A. Sadik, a judge, ordered that Hussein be “detained at the pleasure of the governor of the state”, because she was forcefully married and committed the offence at the age of 16.
Speaking at a media briefing on Saturday, Musbahu Kofar-Nassarawa, spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Centre (NCoS) in Kano state, said Hussein’s release was “based on the recommendation from the officials of the correctional centre who attested to her good behaviour”.
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He said the committee on prison reforms and decongestion advised Abdullahi Ganduje, govenor of Kano, who holds the power of prerogative of mercy on her judgement, to consider the circumstances that led her to commit the offence and grant her pardon.
He said the governor obliged and pardoned her.
Speaking in tears after her pardon, Hussein thanked the committee, Ganduje and officials of the correctional centre for facilitating her freedom.
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“I’m grateful to this committee. May Allah bless you. The officials of the correctional centres, who recommended me to be beneficiary of this gesture, may Allah reward you abundantly,” she said.
“I’m also grateful to governor Ganduje for his mercy on me. I’m very happy today.”
Kofar-Nassarawa said the prison reform committee, led by Ishaq Bello, a judge, also facilitated the release of 30 other inmates from various custodial centres in the state.
He said the committee also paid fines of inmates with options of fine, settled compensations, and released those with critical health conditions as well as the elderly.
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Rahma Hussein received pardon seven years after the crime was committed — not after conviction.
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