Drambi Vandi, the policeman that pulled the trigger of the gun that killed pregnant lawyer Bolanle Raheem on Christmas Day in the Ajah area of Lagos State, was on Friday arraigned in court and remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre till January 30, 2023.
Vandi was remanded pending advice on the case from the Office of the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Chief Magistrate, Miss Adeola Olatunbosun remanded Vandi following an application filed and argued by the Lagos State Attorney General, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN.
The AG’s office had filed a one-count charge dated December 30, 2022 against the defendant.
A copy of the charge reads, “That you ASP Drambi Vandi on the 25th day of December 2022, at Ajah Road, along the Lekki Expressway, Lagos, unlawfully killed one Omobolanle Raheem by shooting the deceased in the chest contrary to Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.”
With the charge, the Attorney General applied for the remand of the defendant pursuant to Section 264 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos, 2015.
The Attorney General told the court that the basis for the remand was to allow the police conclude its investigations into the matter.
The magistrate granted the request for remand and ordered that the case file be duplicated and sent to the Director of Public Prosecution, Dr. Jide Martins for legal advice.
The arraignment comes a day after the Police Service Commission approved Vandi’s immediate suspension.
The spokesperson for the PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, confirmed the development in a statement after the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, recommended that Vandi be suspended for his actions.
Ani said, “The commission, in a letter to the Inspector-General of Police signed by the acting chairperson, Clara Ogunbiyi, stated that the commission has carefully examined the facts of the case, observations and recommendation with respect to allegations against the officer and granted approval for the suspension of the officer from duty with immediate effect.”
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, said there would be no cover-up in the investigation and prosecution of the culprit.
Raheem, a lawyer pregnant with twins, was killed in cold blood by Vandi, who shot at her vehicle while her husband was trying to make a U-turn under the Ajah Bridge, Lagos.
The husband of the deceased, Gbenga Raheem narrated how his wife was shot dead: “On December 25, my wife, nieces, nephews, and cousins, who had come for the holiday, all went to church. On our way back, my wife said since it was Christmas Day, we should take everyone out, so we went to a supermarket at Abraham Adesanya, and then to Domino’s Pizza.
“After that, we headed towards Ajah to do a U-turn to come back to Abraham Adesanya. When we took the U-turn, we saw policemen stopping some vehicles. As we approached them, they said we should stop, and in the process, we heard a loud sound on my wife’s side window. All of a sudden, I saw blood gushing out of her chest.
“I immediately ran out; my sister-in-law, who was also with us, ran out and held the policeman; he cocked his gun at her too. Talking to him was pointless, so I went to see if anything could be done; I saw my wife gasping for breath, and by that time, my sister-in-law had brought the policeman into the car and pushed him into the front seat.
“We drove to a hospital but they said they couldn’t handle it; we eventually took her to Grandville Hospital, where she was confirmed dead. The policemen took her body and put it in the truck; they wanted me to follow them but I said I needed to go and settle my children.”
Wale Igbintade
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