ASP Drambi Vandi, the policeman that pulled the trigger of the gun that killed pregnant lawyer, Bolanle Raheem, on Christmas Day, in the Ajah area of Lagos State, has been accused of taking alcohol before the sad incident.
Vandi’s colleagues were said to have regularly abused alcohol which may be responsible for the increasing rate of extra-judicial killings by cops from the station.
THeNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that Vandi has remanded ASP Vandi at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre till January 30, 2023.
It was gathered that residents and business owners confirmed that the policemen are always under the influence of alcohol while on duty and on patrol.
They said this might be responsible for the recent killing of Bolanle by a policeman who is attached to the station.
Two weeks earlier, an inspector, Imeh Johnson, attached to the same division, also shot dead another resident, Gafaru Buraimoh, who was on his way to buy fuel.
On a visit to the police station on Tuesday around 10am, some of the officers were seen clustered in pairs outside the premises.
A closer observation revealed some of them consuming alcohol in sachets, while heavily armed.
One of the two officers, who sat close to a barbing salon attached to a building beside the station, was seen with a glass cup of beer, which he sipped at intervals.
A policeman among another set of officers who took cover under a shed adjacent to the station was seen drinking a canned alcohol drink with a pistol strapped to his waist.
While some vendors found around the police station made some of the alcoholic drinks available within the officer’s reach, other officers stayed away from prying eyes by walking a distance to patronise other traders.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) gathered that the police officers paid regular visits to some alcoholic vendors behind a motor park under the Ajah Bridge, where Raheem was shot dead.
A resident, Soliu Adekanmbi, said the officers were known for their open abuse of alcohol.
He said, “The officers do things the way they like and nobody is checking them. It looks like nobody can confront them. Most of them are always with alcoholic packs while on duty. They drink them here under the bridge while in uniform. It is what everybody knows, but no one can say anything since the police authorities have done nothing about it.”
It was gathered that most of the policemen had spent a long time in the area and had refused to be transferred.
A community development association chairman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said this had contributed to their excesses in the community.
He said, “Most of the police officers have turned this community into their permanent place. Most of them rise through the ranks to retire here. That is why they have become uncontrollable. Some have spent between 15 and 20 years in the station. Anytime a transfer comes, they manipulate it.
“They know who to settle. Even in Langbasa Police Station, there is one Supol Sunday and one Inspector Yomi and up to 10 of them who have spent up to those number of years. They do not want to leave the station because of pecuniary gains. When the first incident happened, they changed the DPO. But the one that happened on Sunday shows it is not about changing DPO but the policemen.”
