Lagos, Nigeria – A Lagos State High Court has sentenced Drambi Vandi, the suspended police officer who shot dead a Lagos-based lawyer, Bolanle Raheem, to death by hanging.
Justice Ibironke Harrison found Vandi guilty of murder on Monday.
“The court found the defendant guilty on one count of murder. You will be hanged by the neck till you are dead,” Harrison said.
Raheem, who was pregnant at the time, was shot dead by Vandi at the Ajah roundabout in Lagos on December 25, 2022. Vandi was attached to the Ajiwe police division in the Ajah area of the state.
His heinous act was widely condemned by Nigerians and he was suspended two days after the incident.
The Lagos state government presented a one-count charge of murder of the lawyer against Vandi and subsequently arraigned him.
Since the court trial started in January, the deceased’s husband, sister, police armourer, pathologist, and seven others have testified against the defendant.
The prosecution tendered 27 exhibits.
Vandi was the only witness who testified in his own defence. He told the judge that the bullet presented in court, which was said to have killed Raheem, 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.
The court, however, rejected his defence and found him guilty of murder.
