The bullet fired did not come from my rifle – Police officer Drambi Vandi, accused of killing lawyer Bolanle Raheem tells court as he closes his defence
Justice Ibironke Harrison of the Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square on Lagos Island, has ordered lawyers to file their written addresses in the trial of the Assistant Superintendent of Police, (ASP) Drambi Vandi, charged with the killing of a Lagos-based lawyer, Mrs. Bolanle Raheem, on Christmas Day, December 25, 2022.
Channels TV reports that the order was made at the resumed hearing of the case on Wednesday, May 31, after the accused police officer, Drambi Vandi, closed his defence before the court.
While giving his testimony before the court, Vandi told Justice Harrison that the bullet presented in court which was said to have killed Bolanle Raheem did not come from the rifle he carried on the 25th of Dec., 2022. He also claimed that he had never seen the bullet until it was tendered in court.
He also spoke about the training that police officers receive on the use of arms and ammunition. He explained that he had attended a local training school, where he learnt about the different types of rifles, pistols and ammunition for police officers. He added that he was taught how to assemble and dismantle arms and ammunition.
“The magazine Exhibit P19), containing six bullets is the shell of an assorted rifle and it is used in an Ak-47, while the bullet (Exhibit P11a) is a long-range bullet. This one covers over 500 metres. If you line up 10 people, this bullet will go through all of them. When it is shot at a close range, it can’t remain inside the person’s body and also any object at close range, it must penetrate through it. It must pass through at least four objects, and this is not the ammunition in my rifle on the 25th of December, 2023. The rifle is automatic. By using this bullet, you must cork the rifle and anyone around that area will hear the noise of the cork. Once it is fired, the shell will fall on the right side on the ground near the person that fired it and it will remain at the point of fire. The noise will be so loud when fired. I’ve never come across this exhibit before even all through my training and it’s not the type of of ammunition used by the police,” he said.