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Bolanle Raheem: Vandi Hid Under Staircase, Changed To Mufti After Incident — Officer Tells Court

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Olagunju Olatunji, an investigating police officer, and Sunday Akaju, an officer attached to the Ajah police division in Lagos state, have testified in the trial of Drambi Vandi.

Olatunji and Akaju appeared before Ibironke Harrison, the presiding judge of a Lagos high court, on Thursday.

Raheem, a lawyer, was shot dead on December 25, 2022 in an incident involving Vandi.

Testifying before the court, Olatunji said he was the investigating police officer (IPO) in charge of Vandi’s case, adding that he was at Ajiwe police station when the deceased’s sister came to report the incident.

“In the course of my investigation, the statement of the suspect was taken with caution while the statement of the complainant was taken voluntarily,” he said.

“The case was later transferred to the SCID in Yaba for further discreet investigation.

“Before I transferred the case, what I found out during my investigation was that the defendant fired the gun and at the same time, his ammunition was not complete.

“As at the time of his arrest, I saw him with a civilian top on police trousers.”

During cross-examination, Adetokunbo asked Olatunji why he concluded that it was the defendant who fired the bullet that killed Raheem.

“There are three instances. When the gun was shot, the deceased’s sister and husband came down and held the cop and took him to Budo Hospital,” Olatunji responded.

“The second instance is that two out of the three officers on patrol duty held guns. When they brought their guns to the station, only SUPOL Vandi’s gun had a shortage of two bullets while the other one was complete.

“The third is that after the incident, the police officer hid under a staircase and he changed his uniform to mutfi with a gun at hand.”

The defendant’s counsel asked the witness whether it is out of place for a police officer to wear mufti.

“It is not part of the ethics of the job,” the police inspector responded.

“Is that the first time that you will see a policeman wear mufti and carry a gun?” the counsel asked.

“No,” he said.

‘VANDI ASKED ME FOR AMMUNITION AFTER INCIDENT’

Giving an account of what happened, Akaju told the court that he was on patrol at Ado road, Ajah, with three other officers on the day the incident happened.

The police inspector said during the patrol, he received a “distress call” from the DPO of Ajiwe police station that the patrol team should return to the station.

He added that after the patrol team got to the station, he and some officers went with the DPO to Budo Hospital, where the Raheem was initially taken to.

“The DPO went with us to Budo Hospital because our patrol vehicle is the only good one. Then the DPO ordered us to take the defendant to the station,” he said.

“In the process of going to the police station, the defendant said ‘Odogwu (my nickname), help me with one ammunition’.

“And I said ‘there is nowhere to replace it and why will I give you my ammunition?’ I got provoked and told my colleagues what he requested.”

Asked by Moyosore Onigbanjo, the state counsel, whether he gave the ammunition to the defendant, Akaju said, “No, over my dead body”.

CROSS-EXAMINATION

During cross-examination, Odutola Adetokunbo, counsel to the defendant, asked the police inspector to state when Vandi was disarmed after the incident.

“I was not there when he was disarmed,” he responded.

“When the defendant entered your vehicle at Budo hospital, was his gun with him?” the counsel asked.

“I don’t know,” the police inspector responded.

The counsel again queried: “So, the defendant’s gun was with you in the patrol vehicle?”

“No. I don’t know. They disarmed him before we got to the hospital,” he responded.

“You told the court that he asked you for the bullet, which gun would he then put the bullet in if he had been disarmed?” the counsel asked.

“I don’t know,” Akaju responded.

After the cross-examination of both witnesses, the judge adjourned the case till February 8 and 9.

 

Credit: The Cable

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My Wife Invited Her Friends To Our Home To Beat Me During Our Crisis — Oritsefemi

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Famous Nigerian singer, Oritsefemi has alleged that his wife, Nabila Fash, invited her friends to their home to beat him up during their marital crisis.

He said the ladies, numbering about 20, overpowered and physically assaulted him.

The ‘Double Wahala’ hitmaker disclosed this in a candid chat with media personality, Chude Jideonwo.

Oritsefemi stated that he has been unlucky with marriages, claiming that his first wife also dumped him after sponsoring her to Dubai.

“My wife [Nabila Fash] asked her friends to come and beat me up in my house. I said, ‘Look at me o; a whole me, lion na he women dey pursue.’ They were about 20. They dealt with me. I’m not lying,” he said.

Oritsefemi’s marriage to Nabila Fash hit the rocks in 2022, with Fash accusing the singer of incessant cheating.

In October 2022, Fash officially filed for divorce from Oritsefemi over infidelity and domestic violence.

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Chain Reactions In 7 Star Performance At 2024 SABRE Awards

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It was a seven-star performance for Chain Reactions Africa (CRA), one of Africa’s leading Public Relations and Integrated Communications Consultancy as it took home seven African SABRE trophies, more than any other public relations firm in Africa in the 2024 competition.

The awards which were held at the end of the annual African Public Relations Association (APRA) Conference, were presented by Provoke Media, organizers of the awards in Basam, Abidjan, Cote D’Ivore on May 16th 2024.

The work covered campaigns for the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), and its Lagos Blue Rail, 9mobile’s The Hack – Expand Your Hustle’, ‘Taming the Bull’ for the Presidency, ‘Next Era of Happiness’ for leading biscuit company, Pladis Foods Nigeria Limited.

Receiving the awards on behalf of Chain Reactions and its clients, was its Managing Director/Chief Strategist, Israel Opayemi, who noted that this is a seven-star performance by Chain Reactions Africa at the 2024 SABRE Awards.

In his comments Opayemi said “to emerge as the highest winner at the 2024 edition of the award with seven SABRE Awards is humbling as well as exciting for us at Chain Reactions Africa. We are immensely proud to be honoured on such a global platform like the SABRE awards which is the holy grail of Public Relations globally as the awards programme is dedicated to benchmarking the best PR works across the globe.”

He continued, “I am making a three-fold dedication of these multiple trophies to our clients who believe in us, my team members who do the brave works relentlessly and our dear country Nigeria. Ten years ago, we were at the SABRE Awards in Miami, Florida in the United States watching and applauding as winners took turn on stage. Ten years ago, we were asking for a seat at the table. Today, we are sitting in creative resplendence at the head of the table. Today, we are flying the Nigerian flag on the global stage. We are now a territory of reckon and relevance in the global PR space.”

It seems winning awards is just a Chain Reactions thing, chuckled Arun Sudhaman CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Provoke Media, organizers of the SABRE Awards as Opayemi rose up seven times to receive the awards. The PR consultancy also picked up four Certificates of Excellence in recognition of its work launching the Nigerian Youth Trend Report 2024 known as ‘ARAMANDA’, ‘Next Era of Happiness’, ‘Lagos Blue Rail’, ‘The Hack – Expand Your Hustle’, and ‘Taming the Bull’.

In his reaction, President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) described the awards by Chain Reactions Africa as “a harvest of honours for Nigeria”. He thanked the Chain Reactions Africa team for their outstanding works saying, “thank you for making us proud.”

Chain Reactions Africa has over the years won several prestigious SABRE awards and has been awarded more than 15 Certificates of Excellence. At last year’s award, the company won CEO of the Year category for the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for use of public relations to tell the story of his administration’s achievements and scooped two Certificates of Excellence in the Corporate Image category for the ‘Momentum Campaign’ for Cellulant, a flagship payment solution provider; and ‘Marketing to Consumers’ category for ‘The #NaijaHighlandah Campaign’ for William Lawson’s, Scotch Whiskey brand.

The 2024 Africa SABRE Awards shortlist included more than 120 campaigns, selected from over 500 entries in this year’s competition, which recognizes Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation and Engagement. The campaigns were evaluated by a jury of industry leaders.

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BREAKING: Court Denies Binance Executive Tigran Gambaryan Bail

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Tigran Gambaryan, Binance executive, had his bail plea dismissed by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday.

In his verdict, Justice Emeka Nwite stated that the bail application is denied because, after carefully reviewing the application, he concluded that, should bail be granted, the defendant will violate it.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed charges against Gambaryan, his business Binance Holdings Limited, and another high-ranking executive who is presently fugitive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, for money laundering and supporting terrorism.

 

More to come…

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