Drambi Vandi, the Nigerian police officer who was suspended for the killing of Lagos-based lawyer Bolanle Raheem, has been sentenced to death by hanging.
The verdict was delivered by the Lagos State High Court on Monday, following Vandi’s conviction for the murder of Raheem on December 25, 2022. Justice Ibironke Harrison of the Lagos High Court, in her ruling, dismissed Vandi’s claim that he did not shoot the deceased, stating that it lacked credibility.
The incident occurred when Raheem, aged 41, was returning from a church service with her family on Christmas day. Vandi, who was attached to the Ajiwe police division, shot and killed her.
THE VERDICT
In her ruling, the judge dismissed the defendant’s claim that the loud gunshot heard during the incident was that of a firecracker.
Harrison held that a firecracker could not have killed the deceased, saying that only the defendant could have shot the deceased to death.
The judge accepted the testimony of the deceased’s sister that the officer threatened to shoot her after he had shot at the deceased.
The judge ruled that the defendant did not provide cogent evidence to counter the testimony that he fled the scene of the incident with a mini bus and later hid in the police station’s hospital.
