A mother’s pain: She was pregnant with twins, mother of Bolanle Raheem speaks

The mother of Bolanle Raheem, Lagos-based lawyer who was fatally shot by an errant police officer, said her daughter was expecting twins.

The victim’s mother made this known when the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, visited the family Tuesday to express his condolences at their Ajah residence in Lagos.

‘I cannot see my ‘the Law’ again. She was pregnant with twins,” she said.

Bolanle Raheem was fatally shot on Christmas day by a police officer attached to the Ajiwe police division in the Ajah area of the state.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the Lagos police spokesperson, on Monday named the killer cop as Drambi Vandi. He said Mr Vandi, an assistant superintendent of police, has been detained.

The shooting took place at Ajah Under Bridge area of Lagos on Sunday.

This newspaper could not get more details from the victim’s mother, including her name, because journalists present were not allowed to interact directly with the bereaved family.

The mother, however, told the police chief, in Yoruba language, how she hawked oranges to ensure that her children including the deceased got a good education.

She said she last saw her daughter whom she described as her “first child” on Thursday when she left their residence.

She said she got the news of her daughter’s death on Sunday night and came back to their residence same day.

While she was talking, the commissioner of police and the victim’s husband, Gbenga Raheem, held and consoled her.

“She died with her glory. She left a five-year-old daughter behind. And they took her away,” the mother said amidst tears.

“On Monday, my granddaughter came to me and said, ‘grandma Iju Ishaga, I saw you yesterday when you were crying. You were shouting. Is it because of my mummy?’ And I said yes.

“Then she came again and told me that Pastor Jerry said what God cannot do does not exist, so, grandma stopped crying and she pecked me.

“Just like that she suddenly disappeared from among us.”

The commissioner of police arrived at the Ajah residence of the deceased around 5:30 p.m.

He promised that the killer “won’t go unpunished.”

“The Force is bent on making sure that he pays dearly for what he has done,” he said.

Mr Raheem expressed gratitude to the police chief for his visit.

Earlier, a government delegation led by the Lagos State Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo, paid a condolence visit to the family of late Bolanle Raheem.

Mr Onigbanjo promised to lead the prosecution of the killer cop.

“The matter will be charged to court as soon as the police send us the case file. I will be leading the prosecution to show the seriousness the government attaches to this matter,” he was quoted as saying by a government statement.