A Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square on Monday, sentenced a suspended Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Drambi Vandi, to death by hanging for killing a Lagos-based lawyer, Omobolanle Raheem, on December 25, 2022.
Justice Ibironke Harrison passed the verdict after finding Vandi guilty on a one-count murder charge brought against him by the Lagos State Government contrary to Section 223 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
The judge held that the convict should be hung by the neck until he dies.
The judge said: “I hereby pronounce that you Drambi Vandi, shall be hanged by the neck until death. May God have mercy on you.”
During the trial, the prosecution called 11 witnesses, which included, a pathologist, eight police officers, some of whom were the defendant’s colleagues, and two eye eyewitnesses.
The defence opened its defence on May 16, 2023, and closed on May 31, 2023. Vandi was the only witness who testified in his own defence.
Vandi, attached to the Ajiwe Police Station in Ajah, Lagos State, shot the pregnant Raheem while she was returning from an outing with her family members on Christmas Day.
While delivering the judgment, Justice Harrison, analysed the evidence of all the eyewitnesses.
She held that none of the eyewitnesses actually saw the defendant pull the trigger but the circumstantial evidence was overwhelming.
The judge said that a defendant could be convicted when the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming.
-Thenation
