Bolanle Raheem and Drambi Vandi
A policeman, Inspector Sunday Akagu, told a Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos Island, how Assistant Superintendent of Police Drambi Vandi, the suspected killer of Lagos‑based lawyer Omobolanle Raheem, asked him for a bullet to replace his after shooting the woman on Christmas Day. Vandi is standing trial on one count of murder, preferred against him by the Attorney‑General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN. He was arraigned on 16 January 2023 and pleaded not guilty to the charge.
At the resumed hearing of the trial on Thursday, Akagu, the sixth prosecution witness, recounted what transpired after Vandi shot Raheem in the chest. Led in evidence by Onigbanjo, the inspector said his colleague asked for a bullet “to replace my… because it was not complete after the shooting.” Akagu recalled Vandi saying, “Odogwu, that’s my nickname, help me with one ammunition,” to which he replied, “No, where will I replace it? Why will I give you my ammunition?” He added that he was provoked and informed his colleagues of the request. When Onigbanjo asked whether he obliged, Akagu answered, “No, over my dead body.”
The seventh prosecution witness, Olatunji Olagunju, the investigating police officer before the case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, said he was at the station around 1 p.m. when Enema Titilayo, the deceased’s sister, “ran to the station and reported a case of conspiracy and shooting.” Olagunju told the court that he was part of the team that drove the deceased to three hospitals before her death. “We drafted the police and took her corpse to the Yaba Specialist Hospital and deposited her corpse,” he said.
While narrating his encounter with the defendant, Olagunju said he saw Vandi “hiding under a staircase” at the hospital. He explained that the suspect’s statement was taken with caution, whereas the complainant’s statement was taken voluntarily. “Before I transferred the case, I found that the defendant fired the gun and at the same time his ammunition was not complete,” he added, noting that at the time of arrest Vandi was wearing a civilian top over police trousers.
During cross‑examination, the defence lawyer asked whether the complainant had said she saw Vandi shoot. Olagunju replied, “She knows him. She didn’t mention his name because she didn’t know his name. She already held him hostage at the Ajah bridge.” When asked how many officers went to the first hospital, Olagunju said eight, contradicting the first witness who said five. He explained that he had recently been posted to the division and was not familiar with the officers’ names. The lawyer pressed, “Would it surprise you that one of those who went with the DPO said there were only five?” Olagunju responded, “That’s not true. We were eight.”
He further stated that after Raheem was declared dead at the third hospital, three policemen took her body to a mortuary. He identified three instances that led him to conclude his colleague murdered Raheem: (1) when the gun was fired, the husband of the deceased came down, held the cop, and took him to Budo (the first) hospital; (2) two of the three officers present that day had complete guns, while only Sup Vandi’s gun was short of two bullets; and (3) the policeman hid under a staircase and changed into another uniform while still carrying a gun.
Justice Ibironke Harrison adjourned the case until 8 and 9 February for continuation of the trial.
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