Bolanle Raheem: Justice Will Be Transparently Served, IGP Assures As Sanwo-Olu Visits

•NBA seeks N5bn damages for family, swift prosecution of killer policeman •Maikyau, Adegboruwa to be part of prosecution team •Police say suspect still in detention, release photo

By Sunday Ejike

THE Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has assured the La- gos State governor,

Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu; resi- dents of the state and Nigeri- ans in general that justice will be served, and transparently so, in the investigation into the killing of a lawyer, Mrs Bo- lanle Raheem, on Christmas Day in Lagos.

The police boss gave the assurance when the Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, visited him at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday over the case of Raheem and another extra- judicial killing by police oper- atives in the state.

The IGP said there would be no cover-ups in handling the case of the deceased lawyer.
He said: “Governor San- wo-Olu is here to find out about how far we have gone in terms of investigating the incident that happened in La- gos on Christmas Day.

“I can assure him that this incident will be investigated. The Attorney-General of La- gos State will intervene in the case for him to take over the prosecution from the police.

“I can assure you that there will not be any han- ky-panky on the issue. We are also saddened about the incident.
“I want to again extend my condolences to the family of the late Bolanle Raheem — the husband and the entire family. I also wish to extend my condolence to the gov- ernment and the people of Lagos State and Nigeria at large.

“We will continue to im- prove on how our officers en- gage in the use of firearms.

At the same time, we also want to appeal to Nigerians to be responsible. They should help the police by way of supervi- sion and making their work easy.

“I want to assure members of the public that the case will be dealt with.”

Earlier, Governor San- wo-Olu reiterated that there would be no cover-up in the investigation and prosecution of the culprit.

He said the outcome of in- vestigations of the case is very important to the government and people of Lagos State, just as he stressed that the people deserved to know the process leading to justice for the vic- tim.

He said: “We have come here this morning [Thursday] first to extend seasons greet- ings to the Inspector-General of Police and also to get an update and to brief him as to the security situation in La- gos State, especially the very recent unfortunate incident of the death of a lady, Mrs Omobolanle Raheem, by a bullet of a police officer and also an earlier incident that occurred weeks before then.

“We really need to get a sense of security architecture in the state and what we need to do.

“First is to condemn the very unfortunate incident, to express the grief of the gov- ernment and the people of Lagos State, and to say how very unfortunate at this pe- riod in our time to have inci- dents like this.

“But beyond that, really is how do we ensure that in- cidents like this are reduced to the barest minimum? And what can government do that we are not currently doing and that we can do to help the Nigeria Police, the Lagos State police command and how do we ensure that we have bet- ter collaboration because we do not have any other police force?

“For me as the governor of the state, I think it is im- portant and it is that serious for us to come here and get a sense of how soon we can get to charge this officer to court. And we have gotten a very positive response and engagement from the Inspec- tor-General of Police himself.”

Speaking further on the importance of his meeting with the IGP, Governor San- wo-Olu said his government would continually work with the police in providing addi- tional equipment like body cameras and a joint advocacy programme to enhance and improve public and police communication.

“We are indeed hoping that this meeting will be very use- ful. There are a lot of things we are taking back. We have called the commissioner of police [in Lagos] even while we were here and he has also briefed us as to what they are doing in Lagos.

“Essentially, it is to continue to work with the police, the things that we can do around providing some additional equipment that you can use, things like body cameras, and ensuring that we can jointly have an advocacy programme that can enhance and im- prove public and police com- munication.

“What are the roles of en- gagement? Who needs to do what, so that we can have a better community and com- munity policing and a better citizens-police engagement?
“We need to ensure that nothing is left undone, no cov- er-up of any sort in this partic- ular case and that the full arm of the law is put in place to ensure that the officer has his day in court.

“It is one of our responsi- bilities coming here to get a sense of the additional level of support from the Inspec- tor-General of Police with his men in Lagos and other parts of the country,” he said.

Meanwhile the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is seeking N5 billion damages, as well as the swift prosecution of ASP Drambi Vandi, the policeman who killed their colleague, Omobolanle Raheem, in La- gos on Christmas Day.

Also, the NBA President, Mr Yakubu Maikyau (SAN), and a member of the Lagos State chapter of the association and rights activist, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), will be part of the prosecution team.

The NBA, Adegboruwa said in a statement on Thursday, would demand at least, N5 billion compensation for the family of the deceased.

Mrs Raheem, an expectant mother, was in her car in the Ajah area of Lagos on her way back from church with her family when she was shot.

Adegboruwa said: “The NBA Lagos, in conjunction with the NBA president, Mr Y.C. Maikyau, SAN, has decided to be part of the prosecution of the policeman as part of its efforts towards securing quick and effective justice for the family of the deceased.

“In this regard, the NBA will be partnering with the minis- try of justice during the trial.

“Mr Adegboruwa has in turn obtained relevant brief- ing from the Attorney-Gen- eral of Lagos State and has secured the assurances of an accelerated prosecution once the case file is received from the police.”

The NBA is also seeking monetary compensation for the family of Mrs Raheem from the government of La- gos State, the Federal Govern- ment, and indeed the Nigeria Police Force and the Police Service Commission, through its Human Rights Committee. “The NBA will seek pay- ment of damages not less than N5 billion, in addition to the prosecution of the killer
cop.”

Adegboruwa then urged Governor Sanwo-Olu to fol- low the model he adopted during the EndSARS Judicial Panel to “pay compensation to the family of Mrs Raheem immediately since it is an es- tablished fact that her life was terminated illegally by a po- liceman.”

The senior lawyer called for the immediate imple- mentation of the EndSARS Judicial Panel Report in which far-reaching recommenda- tions were made in relation to “Psychological orientation for all police officers in the handling and use of weapons, training for police officers on basic human rights obser- vance and enforcement, im- proving the welfare of all po- lice officers in terms of their take-home pay, conditions of service, their places of work, and residences in order to make them more conducive, as well as the recruitment of more police officers to reduce the pressure on the existing officers whose number is not adequate to effectively police the country.”

Adegboruwa believes it is unacceptable that the issues that led to the demands of youths and the EndSARS pro- tests in 2020 have not been addressed despite repeated promises by the government.

He urged the government and relevant authorities to “go beyond mere press state- ments of lamentations on the gruesome murder of Mrs Raheem, and accelerate the prosecution of the killer and payment of compensation to the family and all other vic- tims of police brutality.”

Meanwhile, the Lagos State police command has said the policeman who killed Raheem is still in detention.

The public relations officer of the command, SP Benja- min Hundeyin, in a short post on Twitter, shared a photo of the officer.

He added that investiga- tions have shown that the other two officers who were with ASP Vandi had no hand in the shooting.

“They have, therefore, been released,” Hundeyin tweeted. He further stated that a re- port on the investigations so far has been forwarded to the Force Headquarters, Abuja for further necessary action. Hundeyin said the claim that the officer responsible for the shooting had been re-
leased was false.

The latest update regarding the killing of Raheem came few hours after the IGP rec- ommended the suspension of Vandi.

The IGP, in a statement by the Force spokesperson, Olu- muyiwa Adejobi, noted that the suspension of the police- man is expected to create an enabling environment for necessary legal procedures to uphold justice in the case without interference.

He said: “The suspension is without prejudice to the constitutional presumption of innocence in favour of the officer.

“The IGP has reaffirmed the commitment of the Force to the rule of law and assured the public of his administra- tion’s commitment to en- suring that justice is not just done, but seen to have been manifestly done in the matter.

“He, therefore, appeals to the public to be calm as all hands are on deck to en- sure justice prevails, while measures have been put in place to prevent future occurrences.”