The Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square has sentenced ASP Drambi Vandi, the police officer who killed a lawyer, Bolanle Raheem, to death by hanging.
The presiding judge, Justice Ibironke Harrison, while delivering judgement on Monday, October 9, 2023, convicted Vandi of a one-count charge of murder.
“The court finds the defendant guilty on one count of murder. You will be hanged by the neck till you are dead,” the judge held.
The court had, in July 2023, fixed today to deliver judgement after the adoption of final written addresses by parties in the suit.
Vandi was arraigned on January 16 on a count charge of murder but he pleaded not guilty.
The Lagos State Government alleged that the police officer shot the lawyer in the chest at Ajah Roundabout on the Lekki expressway in Lagos State on December 25, 2022.
It stated that the murder contravenes Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
A police Inspector, Matthew Ameh, who was a colleague of Vandi, had told the court how the policeman shot the deceased on Christmas Day.
Ameh told the court that on December 25, 2022, he was posted to Ajah Under Bridge with the defendant (Vandi) and another officer, Inspector Dimini.
Ameh, who said he had been working with the police since 2001, stated that he worked at the Lagos State Police Command and was attached to the Ajah Division.
The witness disclosed that the Divisional Police Officer had instructed them to go and protect lives and property, adding that their duty on December 25, at Ajah Under Bridge, was to conduct a stop-and-search operation.
He said: “We were armed while conducting our duty but we were instructed not to use our arms unless someone’s life or our lives were in danger.
“As we were at our duty post, Insp Dimini was in front, I was in the middle while Vandi was behind me.
“There was a Toyota car with no number plate which Inspector Dimini tried to flag down but it didn’t stop. I also flagged it down, it didn’t stop. The next thing I heard was a gunshot.
“I looked back and saw the screen of the car falling down. The next thing: a dark woman jumped down from the vehicle, held the defendant, shouting oga you have killed my sister.”
Details later…
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