Justice Ibironke Harrison of the Lagos High Court, sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) in Lagos, has dismissed a no-case submission application filed by the suspended Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Drambi Vandi, the alleged killer of Lagos-based lawyer, Mrs Omobolanle Raheem.
While dismissing the application seeking to quash the murder charge on Monday, Justice Harrison ordered Vandi to open his defence as a ‘prima facie case” had been established against him by the prosecution.
The judge also held in his ruling that the prosecution led by the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, had presented before her sufficient oral and documentary evidence linking the defendant to the crime, which required him to enter his defence.
The court further held that the evidence of the defendant, the only eyewitness yet to testify before it about the incident, would shed light on what happened on the fateful day.
She stated, “The prosecution has established a prima facie case requiring some explanation by the defendant. The court isn’t looking at the credibility of the prosecution witnesses at this stage. The court will not delve into the substantive case right now.
“Some witnesses had testified that they saw the defendant shoot the deceased that day and that the defendant’s rifle was short of two pieces of ammunition upon his arrest for the shooting.
“The only real issue now is whether a prima facie case has been made by the prosecution, and not whether it has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt,” the judge stated.
The defendant was arraigned by the Lagos State government on a one-count charge of murder contrary to Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The defendant had urged the court to dismiss the suit and discharge him, because the prosecution had failed woefully to link him to the murder.
In his arguments, his defence counsel, Adetokunbo Odutola, told the court to note, among other things, that none of the eyewitnesses saw the defendant shoot and that the ballistic report of the gun allegedly fired expressly stated that the bullet cannot be linked with any of the firearms recovered from the police officers at the scene.
The lawyer argued that with the “inconsistencies” and several others, the prosecution had not made a case against his client to warrant him to enter a defence.
But Onigbanjo opposed the application, arguing that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the defendant, making it necessary for him to put up a defence.
He said that the state government had, through its witnesses and documentary evidence, proved his case beyond all reasonable doubts and that the judge must call on the defendant to defend himself.
Before the prosecution closed its case on February 15, it had called 11 witnesses, which included police officers, the husband and sister of the deceased, the ballistician and a pathologist, Dr Oluwaseun Williams.
The case has been adjourned till May 16 for the defendant to open his defence.
LEADERSHIP reports that the deceased lawyer was shot dead by ASP Vandi at a police checkpoint in the presence of her husband and others on Christmas Day in 2022.
