A Nigerian court handed down a rare and significant verdict on Monday when it sentenced a police officer to death for fatally shooting a lawyer in Lagos, the country's commercial hub. Many people welcomed this unusual punishment as a stern response to the prevalent problem of police misconduct.
After nearly a year of legal proceedings, Justice Ibironke Harrison of the Lagos High Court found police officer Drambi Vandi guilty of murdering Bolanle Raheem, who was pregnant when she was shot and killed on Christmas Day in 2022.
Local reports indicated that Raheem was in her early forties at the time.
Vandi fired the fatal shot when Raheem's vehicle failed to stop at a checkpoint, as reported by local media during the incident. Although Vandi had initially denied shooting Raheem, one of his colleagues who testified during the trial confirmed hearing the gunshot. Vandi has the right to appeal the verdict.
The judge delivered a stern message to the police officer, saying, "You will be hanged by the neck until you are dead," despite Vandi's earlier plea of not guilty.
The death penalty received widespread praise in Nigeria, a country where allegations of police abuse and extrajudicial killings are alarmingly common. On social media, many hoped that this sentence would serve as a warning to errant police officers who often escape justice.
While death sentences are frequent in Nigeria, it has been years since a police officer received such a verdict in the country. Nigeria currently has thousands of pending death sentences, but executions are rare and require approval from state governors.
According to Nigerian human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, only two death sentences have been carried out since 1999.
There is uncertainty surrounding whether Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu will approve the execution of the police officer, as authorities face mounting pressure to hold security forces accountable following the deadly nationwide protests against police brutality in 2020.
While many in Nigeria celebrated the death sentence, some argued for its abolition. Okechukwu Nwanguma, who leads the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre advocating for police reforms in Nigeria, described the death penalty as inhumane, driven by vengeance, and susceptible to errors.
He pointed out that there is no evidence supporting its effectiveness in deterring crime.
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