Police witness tells court how colleague killed Bolanle Raheem

Bolanle Raheem: Police witness tells court how colleague killed Lagos lawyer

Matthew Ahmed, a police inspector assigned to the Ajah division in Lagos State, gave a courtroom testimony in Drambi Vandi‘s murder trial. Vandi is the suspended police officer accused of killing Raheem Bolanle, a Lagos-based lawyer.

As the first prosecution witness in the trial, Mr. Ahmed appeared before Ibironke Harrison, a judge, on Monday at the Lagos high court’s Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) annexe.

On Christmas Day, the suspended officer fatally shot the expectant mother, Mrs. Raheem.

The police officer is attached to the Ajiwe police division in the Ajah area of the state.

Mr. Ahmed testified in court that on December 25, three police officers from his section were sent to the Ajah underbridge.

The defendant had entered a not guilty plea to the one-count murder accusation brought against him by the Lagos State government before giving his testimony.

Shortly after entering his plea, Mr. Ahmed, a police inspector, appeared in court as the first witness for the prosecution.

Mr. Ahmed added that he and Mr. Ebieme left the scene after the deceased’s husband drove away from the scene.

The defendant was later brought into the Ajah police station, where the three of them were asked to write statements about what happened during the incident. He revealed that this is when the defendant was asked to enter his plea.

“What was the type of the car flagged down on the day of the incident,” Moyosore Onigbanjo, the attorney-general of Lagos State who is leading the prosecution team, asked.

“The car was a Toyota vehicle and it had no plate number,” Mr. Ahmed responded.

“Toyota produced so many vehicles. What type of Toyota vehicle?” the attorney-general asked.

“I don’t know,” the police officer said.

“How many people were in the car when it was flagged down?” Mr. Onigbanjo asked.

“I saw people in the car. I don’t know how many people were in the car because it did not stop,” Mr. Ahmed said.

“Please clarify, the car does not have number plate or you did not see the number plate,”

“It had no number plate,” the police officer insisted.

The defendant’s attorney, Odutola Adetokunbo, also cross-examined the police inspector.

Mr. Adetokunbo challenged the witness to distinguish between a gunshot and a noise during the cross-examination.

According to Mr. Adetokunbo, the police inspector claimed in a statement that he made a noise after flagging down the automobile of the deceased’s husband.

In response, the police inspector said that while on patrol, the defendant was standing behind him and that’s when he heard a gunshot.

The case was postponed to January 25 and 26 after the judge granted both sides’ requests to expedite the hearing.