The Lagos High Court, Tafawa Balewa Square on Lagos Island, has sentenced an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Drambi Vandi, who killed a Lagos-based lawyer, Mrs. Omobolanle Raheem, to death by hanging.
Justice Ibironke Harrison gave the sentence after she found the ASP guilty of the murder of the pregnant lawyer.
Harrison said the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, adding that the convict shot the deceased at close range.
It would be recalled that in April the court dismissed a “no case submission” filed by Vandi.
Justice Harrison ordered the defendant to open his defence as a ‘prima facie’ has been made against him.
In his application on the no-case submission, Vandi had told the court to dismiss the suit and discharge him claiming that he had no case to answer.
In his arguments, the defence counsel, Adetokunbo Odutola, told the court that none of the eyewitnesses saw the defendant shoot and that the ballistic report of the gun allegedly fired expressly stated that the bullet could not be linked with any of the firearms recovered from the police officers at the scene.
Oduntola said the pathologist who testified mentioned that the bullet penetrated from the left through the armpit while the prosecution stated that the deceased was shot in the chest.
However, the prosecution led by the Attorney General of Lagos State, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), had countered the arguments and urged the defendant to defend himself insisting that the prosecution had successfully made its case against him.
