Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Drambi Vandi, on Monday pleaded not guilty to the murder of lawyer, Bolanle Raheem. The ASP was arraigned before Justice Ibironke Harrison of a Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square on one count of murder. Raheem was returning home with her family on Christmas Day in 2022 when she was allegedly shot dead by Vandi in the Ajah area of Lagos.
A police inspector, Matthew Ahmen, told the court that he, Vandi and one other were conducting a stop-and-search when the incident happened.He said Vandi who was the leader of their team was behind while he was in the middle, and another colleague, Inspector Dimini, was in the front. Ahmen, who was the first prosecution witness, said when Dimini saw a car coming, he flagged it down but the car didn’t stop, and when the car got to where he was standing, he also flagged the car down but the car didn’t stop as well. He said, “The next thing I heard was a gunshot and I looked back to see what was happening and I saw that a windscreen was falling.
“The next thing I saw again was a dark woman who jumped down from the vehicle and I heard her saying that ‘oga you have killed my sister.’ The woman held him and before I and Dimini could get to them, they had entered the car, locked it, and left.”
