BOLANLE RAHEEM: DRAMBI VANDI DENIES SHOOTING THE DECEASED LAWYER
Read Time:4 Minute, 41 Second
By Aishatu Momoh. O.
Says bullets in his rifles were intact at the time it was retrieved from him…
The suspended Assistant Superintendent of Police, who was alleged to have shot and killed a Lagos-based lawyer, Omobolanle Raheem, on December 25, 2022 has testified in his defence, denying shooting the deceased.
Drambi Vandi mentioned this, when he appeared before Justice Ibironke Harrison, at the Lagos State High Court, Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Island on Tuesday.
Being led in evidence by his counsel, Jude Ugwu, the defendant said he led the patrol team of three officers who manned Ajah underbridge for a stop and search operations that day.
According to him, some guys in the area were throwing bangers (knockouts) and when he went to meet them to stop the noise, the deceased’s sister accosted him and accused him of shooting her sister.
While narrating to the court, he said, “Our team was positioned behind the BRT Park.
Some guys were shooting knockouts (Bangers) and they were throwing it on the road. So, I went to meet them to stop because some people parked their cars there but, they told me that they were enjoying Christmas.
I left them and went back to see how my men were doing, and I met a car parked, but I didn’t hit them.
The guys started throwing the bangers to the road again. So, on my way to go and stop them, i saw a man and a woman moving down to meet me. Immediately, the woman held me saying that a policeman has killed her sister. I raised my gun up to prevent accidental discharge. So I said ok, let’s go and see the person.
After confirming that there was somebody who is in need of help, but I didn’t see exhibits, such as glass or whatever. I now looked back for my men at that point, but couldn’t see them.
So I said ok, let us take the woman to the hospital and then he asked that the man should call the woman who was holding him.
The man who was the husband of the wounded woman, left to call the woman but couldn’t find her. So, we left for the hospital.
When we got there, I saw my friend, Inspector James who asked me why i was half naked. I told him that a woman held my shirt. Inspector James said, ok, let’s go to the station so you can change” but I said no, that I want to see what happened to this woman.
Inspector James said, ok, that he has an extra polo and gave it to me. Then we started hearing the voice of the DPO outside.
The DPO asked me to bring my gun, and I asked why? But the DPO said that is he not my superior? So, I gave him. He then told me to join them in the police van and we went back to the police Station. There, I wrote my statement.
The DPO asked the Armourer to bring the guns. Only one was brought and the DPO asked for the magazine. One was brought and the DPO asked that it should be counted, it had 16 ammunition.
The DPO said he heard that the gun I took had 25 ammunition in it, so where is it? The armourer went to bring another magazine this time and when it was counted, it had 26. So, the DPO asked that he should remove 3 from it. At this point, the DPO was already angry at the armourer for bringing the wrong magazine. So, the armourer removed 3 out of the 26 ammunition that was in the magazine.”
When asked by his counsel what the standard procedure for disarming a police officer is
He answered and said, “There must be witnesses who would count the ammunition. If it’s complete, the witnesses will sign but if otherwise, they will hand them over to the IPO, who will now invite the officer to count and ask what he used the ammunition for. After writing a statement, the ammunition will not go back to the armourer, it will be given to the exhibit keeper for further investigation.
The defendant also denied that bullets were missing from his rifle, saying that as at when the gun was collected from him, it was intact.
The court adjourned to May 31 to conclude hearing the defendant’s evidence.
The Lagos State Government prosecuting the case alleges that the defendant shot and killed the 41-year-old lawyer while she was returning from a Christmas Day church service in the Ajah area of Lagos.
He was subsequently arraigned in January, days after the Police Service Commission approved his immediate suspension.
At the last sitting in April, Justice Harrison dismissed the ‘no case submission’ filed by the defendant, and ordered him to open his defence.
In the no-case submission, lead defence counsel, Adetokunbo Odutola, had argued that none of the eyewitnesses saw the defendant fire the gunshot. He added that the ballistics report on the incident couldn’t link the bullet found in the deceased’s vehicle with any of the firearms recovered from the police officers at the scene.
But, the court held that the prosecution led by the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, had presented before it sufficient oral and documentary evidence linking the defendant to the crime, which required him to enter his defence.
The court further held that the evidence of the defendant, being the only eyewitness yet to testify before it about the incident, would shed light on what happened that day.
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