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Drambi Vandi, a suspended Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) on Tuesday informed Justice Ibironke Harrison of the High Court of Lagos State, Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), that he never shot at the late Lagos-based lawyer, Omobolanle Raheem.
The late legal practitioner was allegedly shot dead by Vandi on December 25, 2022.
Vandi, who appeared before the trial judge while being led in evidence by his counsel, Jude Agwu, explained that he headed the patrol team of three officers who manned Ajah underbridge for stop and search operations on the day under review.
According to Vandi, some individuals in the area were throwing bangers (knockouts) and when he went to meet them to stop the noise, the deceased sister accosted him and accused him of shooting her sister.
In his words: “Our team was positioned behind the BRT park. Some guys were shooting knockouts (Bangers) and they were throwing them on the road. So, I went to meet them to stop because some people parked their cars there, but they told me that they were enjoying Christmas.
“I left them and went back to see how my men were doing, and I met a car parked, but I didn't hit them. The guys started throwing the bangers on the road again. So, on my way to go and stop them, I saw a man and a woman moving down to meet me.
“Immediately, the woman held me, saying that a policeman had killed her sister. I raised my gun to prevent accidental discharge. Therefore, I said okay, let's go and see the person.
“After confirming that there was somebody who needed help, I now looked back at my men at that point, but couldn't see them. So, I said, let us take the woman to the hospital, and then he asked that the man should call the woman who was holding him.
“The man who was the husband of the wounded woman left to call the woman, but could not find her. we left for the hospital. When we got there, I saw my friend, Inspector James, who asked him why I was half naked.
“I told him that a woman held my shirt. Inspector James said, 'Let's go to the station, so you can change' but I said no on the reason that I wanted to see what happened to this woman.
"Inspector James said he had an extra polo, and he gave it to me. Then we started hearing the voice of the DPO outside. The DPO asked me to bring my gun, and I asked why? But the DPO said that is he not my superior?
“So, I gave it to him. He then asked me to join them in the police van, and we went back to the police station. There, I wrote my statement.
“The DPO asked the Armourer to bring the guns. Only one was brought and the DPO asked for the magazine. One was brought and the DPO asked that it should be counted, it had 16 ammunitions.
“The DPO said he heard that the gun I took had 25 ammunitions in it, so where is it? The Armourer went to bring another magazine this time and when it was counted, it had 26.
“So, the DPO asked that he should remove 3 from it. At this point, the DPO was already angry at the Armourer for bringing the wrong magazine. So, the Armourer removed 3 out of the 26 ammunition that was in the magazine”.
Agwu further asked suspended ASP Vandi for the standard procedure of how a police officer can be disarmed.
“There must be witnesses who would count the ammunition. If it's complete, the witnesses will sign, but if otherwise, they will hand them over to the IPO, who will now invite the officer to count and ask what he used the ammunition for.
“After writing a statement, the ammunition will not go back to the Armourer, it will be given to the exhibit keeper for further investigation,” Vandi explained.
The defendant also denied that bullets were missing from his rifle, saying that as of when the gun was collected from him, it was intact.
The criminal matter has been adjourned until May 31, 2023, for the conclusion of the hearing of Vandi's evidence.
It would be recalled that the Lagos State Government (LASG) had alleged that Vandi shot and killed the 41-year-old lawyer while returning from a Christmas Day church service in the Ajah area of Lagos.
Consequently, Vandi was arraigned in January, days after the Police Service Commission (PSC) approved his immediate suspension.
When the matter came up before Justice Harrison in April, the judge threw out the ‘no case submission’ initiated by the defendant and ordered him to open his defence.
In the no-case submission, lead defence counsel, Adetokunbo Odutola, had argued that none of the eyewitnesses saw the defendant fire the gunshot, even as he added that the ballistics report on the incident could not link the bullet found in the deceased's vehicle with any of the firearms recovered from the police officers at the scene.
But, the court held that the prosecution, led by the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) had presented before it oral and documentary evidence linking the defendant to the crime, which required him to enter his defence.
Justice Harrison further declared that the evidence of the defendant, being the only eyewitness yet to testify before it about the incident, would shed light on what happened on the day of the incident.
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