JUST IN: Court sentences police officer who killed Bolanle Raheem to death by hanging

Drambi Vandi, a police officer, was condemned to death by hanging by the Lagos State High Court for shooting  Bolanle Raheem, on Christmas Day 2022.

On Monday, Judge Ibironke Harrison issued the judgment, finding the police officer guilty of murdering a Lagos-based lawyer, Bolanle Raheem.

“The court found the defendant guilty on one count of murder. You will be hanged by the neck till you are dead,” Judge Harrison ruled.

On Christmas Day 2022, Raheem, an expectant woman, was shot and killed while on her way to church with her family at the Ajah roundabout in Lagos State.

Vandi, who works for the Ajiwe police division in Ajah, was suspended two days after the event. The state government then charged him with murder on a single count.

Vandi’s husband, sister, police armorer, pathologist, and seven other witnesses testified against him in the trial, which began in January of this year. The prosecution also presented 27 exhibits.

Vandi, as the lone witness in his own defense, claimed that the bullet allegedly responsible for Raheem’s death did not come from the gun he was carrying on the day of the incident.

He also stated he had never seen the bullet before it was shown in court.

However, Justice Harrison ignored Vandi’s defense and sentenced him to death by hanging.