Inspector Sunday Akagu, a colleague of the trigger-happy Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP Drambi Vandi, who is on trial for the murder of a pregnant Lagos-based female lawyer, Omobolanle Raheem, has told the court that Vandi asked him to replace his bullet after the shooting on the day of the incident.
Akagu made the revelation while testifying as the sixth prosecution witness before a Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square on Lagos Island on Thursday.
The Police Inspector who confirmed he was on duty with ASP Vandi on December 25, 2022, when Bolanle was killed recounted what happened after Vandi shot the female lawyer in the chest at the trial’s resumed hearing on Thursday.
Vandi is facing a murder charge brought against him by the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN).
Vandi was arraigned on January 16, 2023, for the murder of Bolanle on 2022 Christmas Day, but pleaded not guilty.
The prosecution had called five witnesses, and the sixth witness, Inspector Akagu, who was led in evidence by Onigbanjo on Thursday, said his colleague asked for a bullet to replace his because it was not complete after the shooting.
The PUNCH quoted Akagu as telling the court that while they were going to the police station, the defendant (Drambi Vandi) said,
“‘Odogwu,’ that’s my nickname, ‘Help me with one ammunition’ and I said, ‘No, where will I replace it? Why will I give you my ammunition?’
I got provoked and told my colleagues what he requested.”
When Akagu was asked if he replaced his colleague’s bullet as requested, he replied,
“No, over my dead body.”
Also testifying in court, the seventh prosecution witness, Olatunji Olagunju, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) of the case before it was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Yaba, told the court that he was at the station around 1pm when one Enema Titilayo (the deceased’s sister) “ran to the station and reported a case of conspiracy and shooting.”
The IPO told the court that he was part of the team that drove to the three hospitals the deceased was referred to before her death.
“We drafted the police and took her corpse to the Yaba Specialist Hospital and deposited her corpse,”
Olagunju said.
Olagunju, while narrating his encounter with the Vandi said he “saw him hiding under a staircase” at the hospital.
He said that in the course of his investigation, “the statement of the suspect was taken with caution while the statement of the complainant was taken voluntarily.”
He further explained that “Before I transferred the case, what I found out during my investigation was that the defendant fired the gun and at the same time his ammunition was not complete.
“As of the time of his arrest, I saw him with a civilian top on police trousers.”
Vandi’s lawyer during cross-examination asked, “Did the complainant say she saw him shoot?”
The witness said, “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, he said eight, contrary to the testimony of the first witness, who said five, and when the witness was asked to mention the names of the officers, he said that he was recently posted to the division and was not yet familiar with their names.
The defence lawyer asked, “Would it surprise you that one of those who went with the DPO said there were only five?” to which he said, “That’s not true. We were eight.”
According to the witness, after Bolanle was declared dead at the third hospital, three policemen took her body to a mortuary.