Maryam Sanda: I saw bite wounds on Bilyaminu’s body — Witness

A prosecution witness on Wednesday told an FCT High Court in Maitama that he saw two bite wounds and two stitches on the corpse of Bilyaminu Bello, who was allegedly killed by his wife.

The witness, Umar Muhammed testified as the fifth witness in the murder case against Maryam Sanda, accused of killing her husband, Bilyaminu, a nephew of former PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bello Halliru Muhammad.

Maryam was docked alongside her brother Aliyu Sanda, her mother Maimuna Aliyu and one Sadiya, who were accused of assisting her to conceal the evidence by cleaning the blood of the deceased from the scene of the crime. They pleaded not guilty.

At the resumed hearing yesterday, the witness told the court that he works as a driver to Bilyaminu’s father. He said he was informed around 5am on November 19, 2017 that Bilyaminu has died and that he immediately went to his boss’s house but the house was empty. He was told that they were at the Maitama police station.

He said when he got to the station he proceeded alongside the family members to the Maitama General Hospital where the corpse of the deceased was retrieved from the hospital’s mortuary. He added that when the corpse was taken to the Central Mosque where he personally bathed the corpse according to Islamic rites, he saw some injuries on the body.

“I saw one (injury) on the lap and another on the neck. I also saw bite wounds on the chest and a finger on his right hand. I noticed that the wounds on the lap and neck were stitched,” he added.

Under cross-examination, Umar told the court that he was not aware that it’s only a relative or a professional that is allowed to do the bathing according to the Islamic rites. He added that he also didn’t know that the corpse must be covered from abdomen down to the feet before the bath.

He said he made his statement to the police on November 21, 2017 and that he didn’t include it in the statement that he was at Maitama police station and at the hospital.

“I saw Maryam and her mother at the police station but I don’t know who inflicted the injuries on the deceased,” he said.

Justice Yusuf Halilu adjourned the matter to December 3rd for the prosecution to call its last two witnesses.