The Ajah Divisional Police Officer where ASP Drambi Vandi standing trial for murder had warned that on no account should police use fire arms against civilian
A police inspector, Matthew Ahmen, a colleague to Vandi, told a Lagos State High Court when giving testimony on Monday in the trial of the ASP officer who allegedly killed a lawyer, Mobolanle Raheem.
Ahmen, who was being cross examined by the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Moyosore Onigbajo, SAN, told Justice Ibironke Harrison that on December 25, 2022, when the incident happened, he and his colleagues resumed duty at 6am in their office at Ajah.
He said “the DPO told us that on no account should anyone use firearms, except if someone was in danger or our lives were being threatened,” adding that the three of them were posted to Ajah under bridge and Vandi was the leader of the team.
The witness while they were conducting stop and search, another colleague, Dimini, was in front, while he was at the middle; Vandi was at the back, adding that when Dimini saw a car coming, he flagged it down, but the car did not stop.
According to him, when the car got to where he stood, he also flagged it down but the driver did not stop.
“The next thing I heard was a gunshot and I looked back to see what was happening; I saw that a windscreen was falling down.
“The next thing I saw again was a dark woman who jumped down from the vehicle and I heard her saying, ‘Oga you have killed my sister.’ The woman held him (Vandi) and before I and Dimini could get to them, they had entered the car, locked it and left,” he added.
Ahmen said he and Dimini returned to the station after the shooting.
He said, “Vandi entered the same vehicle and they drove him away; we did not know where they went to. While we were at the station, we saw that the DPO brought ASP Vandi to the station with the police patrol vehicle.”
Earlier, Vandi was arraigned on one count of murder preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.
He was accused of killing Raheem at the Ajah under bridge, Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos State.
The state government said Vandi unlawfully killed the pregnant woman by shooting her in the chest.