The trial of Darambi Vandi, the alleged murder suspect of a Lagos-based lawyer shot dead on Christmas Day, continued on Thursday, February 2, with the sixth prosecution witness, Insp. Sunday Akagu, giving an account of what transpired on that day.
Vandi is standing trial on a count charge of shooting and killing a Lagos lawyer, Mrs Omobolanle Raheem, on Dec. 25, 2022, at Ajah area of Lagos. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him by the Lagos State Government. The Prosecution led by the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyo Onigbanjo (SAN), had said that the offence contravened Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Testifying before the trial judge, Justice Ibironke Harrison, before a Lagos High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square on Thursday, Akagu said the accused officer, ASP Vandi, asked him to give him one bullet to replace his own. The witness said that he had worked for 20 years as a police officer and was attached to the Ajah police station.
While being led in evidence by Onigbanjo, the witness explained how he got the information about the incident. He said after the information was conveyed to the division, he was among the officers who visited the hospital where the victim was taken to.
Akagu also told the court that his team was thereafter asked to take the defendant back to the police station.
?On our way back to the police station, the defendant asked me to help him with one ammunition and I said no. I became angry and asked him why I should give him my ammunition. I then told our colleagues about the defendant?s request? Akagu said
The witness was cross-examined by the defendant?s counsel, Mr. Adetokunbo Odutola. The witness while answering questions explained that he was not present when the defendant was disarmed and could not give account of the exact time or place the defendant was actually disarmed.
After Akagu?s evidence, the seventh witness, the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), Insp. Olagunju Olatunji, gave his own evidence.
Olatunji told the court that he was at the station at about 1:00 p.m., when one Enema Titilayo (the deceased?s sister), ran to the station and reported a case of conspiracy and shooting.
He 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 took her corpse to the Yaba Specialists Hospital and deposited her corpse,? he said
Speaking of his encounter with the suspected killer, Olatunji said that he saw the defendant hiding under a staircase at the hospital.
The IPO said that while conducting his investigation, he took the statement of the defendant and that of the complainant. He said that both statements were taken with caution and voluntarily. The witness said that the case was later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, for further discreet investigation.
?Before I transferred the case, I found out that the defendant fired his gun and at the same time his ammunition was not complete.
The witness was also cross-examined by the defendant?s counsel and he narrated what he found out during his investigation.
He narrated three instances that made him believe that the defendant was the person who shot the victim. He said that among the three officers who were on patrol together, only the defendant?s gun had a shortage of bullets.
After listening to the evidence of the witnesses, Justice Ibironke adjourned the matter till February 8.