The much-awaited sentencing of Drambi Vandi, an assistant superintendent of police, who murdered pregnant Bolanle Raheem, a lawyer, on December 28, 2022, in Lagos State, occurred on Monday with the court pronouncing him guilty and sentencing him to death by hanging.

Raheem, a Lagos State-based legal practitioner, was in a private car with her family when they encountered some police officers from Ajiwe Police Station located in Ajah. The encounter ended the lawyer’s life when Vandi shot her right in the presence of her family.

The killing was greeted with a massive outrage from private citizens, public advocacy groups, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and the Lagos State Government. The government would later arraign Vandi as a defendant in the case numbered LD/20598c/22.

This report presents important details of what transpired in court as recorded by the NBA brief-watching team.

COMMENCEMENT OF TRIAL

On January 16, 2023, the court commenced the trial with the presentation by Moyo Onigbanjo, Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, as the prosecution lead. Yakubu Maikyau, NBA president, led the watching-brief team.

Adetokumbo Odutola, the defence lawyer, however, asked for a clearer copy of the charge sheet, claiming that the initial copy in his file was blurred. The prosecution responded that the case be allowed to proceed as the charge sheet was not to be tendered as evidence. This was not opposed.

The prosecution called Inspector Matthew Ameh, one of the policemen that accosted Bolanle, and he testified that he was present at the scene of the crime. He further informed the court that he and Ebimine Flyegha, also a policeman, attempted to stop a car without a number plate but the car failed to stop and the next thing he heard was a gunshot sound. He said he noticed that one side of the windscreen of the car was shattered and a lady soon came down from the car. The lady held Vandi, screaming “you have killed my sister”.

The case was granted an accelerated hearing, per an application by the Lagos State Commissioner for Justice. The matter was adjourned until January 25 and 26 for continuation of hearing.

FURTHER WITNESS TESTIMONIES

On January 25, the defence counsel cross-examined Inspector Matthew Ameh on his narration of how the incident happened at their checkpoint under Ajah bridge on December 28. On whether he saw Vandi pull the trigger, Ameh responded in the negative.

Flyegha was also cross-examined, and his testimony strengthened Ameh’s under oath. He informed the court that it was the convict that shot the gun and killed Bolanle.

On January 26, Gbenga Raheem, the lawyer’s husband, gave his account of the incident and how the Venza car they were in was gifted to his wife. He narrated how they struggled to save Bolanle’s life by rushing her to different hospitals but to no avail. The court adjourned the case until February 1 and 2 for further hearing.

On February 1, Bamidele Olusegun, a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), was called as a fifth prosecution witness. He said Vandi was disarmed at the station and all the available bullets in it were counted. He added that he collected Vandi’s rifle and handed it over to Inspector Adamu Shaibu, the station’s armourer.

It was the turn of Olusegun to testify on February 2. During his testimony, he said that he was at the station the day Bolanle’s sister reported the killing. The armourer revealed that he saw Vandi hiding under a stairway at Budo Specialist Hospital where they had rushed Bolanle for medical attention.

Furthermore, Olusegun testified that his investigation revealed that the defendant fired the ammunition that killed the deceased. He stated that he arrived at the conclusion based on three grounds:

(1) That in the course of his investigation before the file was transferred to State Criminal Investigation Department, the statements of the defendant’s teammates, who wrote their statement separately, confirmed the defendant was the person that fired his ammunition.

(2) That he discovered the defendant’s ammunition was not complete.

(3) That he saw him with a civilian top on the police trouser hiding under a staircase.

TWO MEN CRYING

Inspector Adamu Shaibu, the armourer and eighth witness, was examined on February 8. He said Vandi was at his office to book for an AK47 rifle with breach number 24669 and 25 rounds of live ammunition. He said that Inspector Ebimine almost immediately booked for another AK47 rifle with 8 rounds of live ammunition.

At about 1 to 2 pm, he received a call from Ameh Matthew about the death of Omobolanle Reheem, and he informed the DPO, who quickly joined a patrol team to the scene.

He cross-checked the defendant’s magazine and realised that out of the 25 rounds of ammunition, 2 rounds were missing. Only 23 live ammunitions were left, and he immediately moved to the cell to report to the defendant what he had discovered. He then asked Vandi for an explanation, but the defendant started to cry and he was also moved to tears. He repeated this account under cross-examination.

Inspector Adeyemo Olubunmi, a homicide expert, on February 9, explained that the station armourer delivered the two rifles to his office for ballistic examination. He identified the ballistic report, the shell, the expended ammunition that was recovered from the body of the deceased.

MORE TESTIMONY ON VANDI’S GUILT

He insisted that Vandi was culpable of the crime based on the evidence of his teammates and other materials shown by their investigation.

Adeyeye Bamisope, a ballistician attached to the ballistic and forensics section at the SCID, demonstrated the process of cocking the rifle, positioning the ammunition in the chamber against the firing pin and pressing the trigger to fire the ammunition.

He narrated that the examination conducted revealed residue of propellant gun powder, an indication that the firearm was fired. He further explained that the deceased’s vehicle was examined and he observed that the front passenger widow was shattered without perforation and that there was no trajectory to link the shooter, vehicle and victim. He stated that a bullet was found in the vehicle.

POSTMORTEM FINDINGS

Dr. Williams Oluwaseun Olatunde, who conducted a postmortem analysis on Bolanle on December 30, was in the witness box on February 15. After explaining the procedure of conducting the analysis, he testified that in the course of the examination, he could establish the cause of death as hemorrhagic shock, disruption of the chest visceral and musculoskeletal tissues and gunshot injury to the chest.

He also testified that he recovered bullets from the right lung space of the deceased’s body, and that multiple shattered bullet fragments were identified. Each of the items were measured, photographed and placed in a labelled container submitted to the investigating police officer.

His elaborate testimony placed all postmortem analysis before the court and he reaffirmed same under cross-examination.

The prosecution then closed its case. On its side, the defence team mentioned that it would be filing a no-case submission. Subsequently, the case was adjourned until February 28 for the adoption of the no-case submission.

VANDI’S TESTIMONY

On May 31, the defendant entered the witness box. Testifying, Vandi said that his long-range bullets can cover 500 metres and kill everyone in their line of fire before landing at any location. If shot at a close range, he said, it would not remain inside someone’s body, and if shot at a car at a close range, it would hit at least three other cars before it would come to a stop.

He said the rifle was automatic and required the use of force to cork, and that it would produce a loud noise if it was corked and fired. He also said that once fired, the ammunition (empty shell) would fall on the ground by the right-hand side of the shooter because the chamber is on the right-hand side. The defendant testified that the ammunition could kill from a very far distance.

He further informed the court that he booked 25 rounds of ammunition and signed for it, and then returned the same number of ammunition inside the magazine. He defended himself by testifying that he was disarmed, and that the ammunition was not counted in his presence at the hospital.

He confirmed under cross-examination that he was on duty on December 25, 2022, and was at the scene of the crime on the same day.

The defence closed its case and asked for a date to address the court. The court granted 21 days to defence counsel and 14 days to the prosecution. The court directed the legal teams to ensure that both final written addresses did not exceed 20 pages. The court adjourned the matter until July 13 for written addresses.

ADOPTION OF WRITTEN ADDRESSES

The defence filed its final written address dated June 20. In response, prosecution filed its own written address and reply on points of law on July 12.

Vandi’s lawyer argued that there were contradictions in the identification of the bullets and other materials. Based on this, he urged the court to discharge and acquit the police officer.

The prosecution, however, asked the court to discountenance the argument, saying that the ballistician’s evidence had ascertained that the bullets were shattered and were so damaged beyond identification. The prosecution argued that the action taken by the defendant to fire the ammunition was deliberate and direct in killing the deceased.

Upon listening to all final arguments, the matter was adjourned until October 9 for judgment at 11 am, when Vandi was sentenced to death by hanging.