The Lagos State High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square has convicted and sentenced to death by hanging a police officer Drambi Vandi over the murder of Lagos-based lawyer Bolanle Raheem.
ASP Vandi shot Mrs Raheem dead on December 25, 2022 during a stop-and-search exercise.
Ruling on Monday, Justice Ibironke Harrison held that the Lagos State Government has proven the case against the convict beyond all reasonable doubt.
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“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.
On January 16, 2023, the Lagos State Government arraigned Vandi before the court for shooting to death the 41-year-old pregnant lawyer at the Ajah underbridge checkpoint.
The convict faced a one-count charge of murder contrary to Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The police officer was attached to the Ajiwe police division in the Ajah area of the state. He was suspended two days after the incident.
The prosecution team led by the attorney-general and commissioner for justice Moyosore Onigbanjo called 11 witnesses, including eight police officers.
The other prosecution witnesses include the husband and sister of the deceased and also a pathologist.
Vandi was the only witness who testified in his own defence.
In his testimony before the court, Vandi told the judge that the bullet presented in court, which was said to have killed the deceased, did not come from the rifle he carried on the day of the incident.
He also claimed that he had never seen the bullet until it was tendered in court.
