Bolanle Raheem: The Lawyer And Realtor Who Touched Lives, Left Lasting Impact But Got Killed By Police At 41
On the morning of December 25, 2022, Bolanle Raheem, with her husband and business partner, Raheem Kabir Gbenga driving the family to church for a Christmas Day service and her seven-year-old daughter sitting behind in the car, posted a message on her company’s social media page, Croston Homes Consulting to wish her followers a Merry Christmas……..Continue Reading
“Wishing you the very best this day has to offer
Merry Christmas 
May your day be 
with
lots of laughter
Lots of dancing
,” the message, posted at 8 am (WAT), read.
It was a chilly harmattan morning in Lagos, but Bolanle had many reasons to be excited as the year was going to an end. Her real estate company had grown significantly in the year as she revealed in a social media post on December 25, 2022. She was also pregnant again, six years after the birth of her first child and she was looking forward to 2023 with joy.
After service that Sunday morning at a parish of one of Africa’s largest pentecostal churches – the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) at Ajah, in the Eti-Osa local government area of Lagos, the family decided to stop for a box of pizza on their way home to Lekki. Bolanle never returned home with her family. She was shot dead by a police officer in the presence of her husband and daughter. She did not have a merry Christmas with lots of laughter and lots of dancing.
According to eyewitnesses, the police had flagged their vehicle under the bridge in Ajah. Because a vehicle was already parked by the side of the road, the husband opted to drive to its front to park the car. One of the policemen, identified as Dambri Vandi, perhaps thinking Raheem was fleeing, shot at close range into the vehicle hitting Bolanle in the chest and killing her instantly. She became another statistic in Nigeria’s now-common extra-judicial police killing.
A report by Global Rights, an international human rights organisation based in Washington D.C says that 164 Nigerians were killed by police and other security operatives in 2021 despite the EndSARS campaign a year before which was meant to address police excesses.
A promising life cut short
Bolanle was born on May 29, 1981. The only child of her parents, her father died in 2018. Although the family would best be described as belonging to the middle class when she was young, things turned bad financially as she admitted in one of her Facebook videos.
She said: “I would say I was born into silver spoon but along the line, we had set back and things became difficult and so there was no property I looked forward to inheriting.”
Her mother too recalled that she had to hawk in order to raise money to take care of her child and the family.
Bolanle studied law at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ago Iwoye, Ogun state graduating in 2009 before proceeding to the Nigerian law school in Enugu.
Her journey into real estate and property management began in 2014. Despite the difficulty, she put in a lot of hard work couched in a strong positive mindset. As she said in one of her social media posts: “The situation may seem impossible, it may appear like it’s taking forever, but be encouraged, trust God, He will make you laugh.”
Bolanle was also religious. An avid church-goer, she strongly expressed candid belief in God being at the centre of her journey. Adebusola Dele-Davids, her marketing consultant told Neusroom that Bolanle joined their church in 2012 and following her marriage in 2014 took to everyone she met there, accepting them as family.
She said: “I’ve known Bolanle since 2012. When she married her husband, we were in the same department in church. She took to us immediately because her husband is a very playful and boisterous person. We all became her Aunty.”
In 2013, Bolanle joined Lanre Olayinka and Co, a law firm located on Lagos Island and became a staff favourite, doing her job diligently and being willing to help everyone.
“She came with positive energy,” Esther Omojola Owolabi, her colleague and friend told Neusroom tearfully. “Everyone liked her because she was kind. I have still not gotten over her death. It looks like a nightmare.”
In 2016, Bolanle had her first child and she could not have been happier. “She loved her husband and her daughter so passionately,” Dele-Davids told Neusroom. It was also evident from the way she shared content about them on her social media pages. On her daughter’s first birthday in 2017, she organised a celebration inviting friends and family to join in the festivity.
One of her friends described her on social media as someone who rose from being timid to facing her fear to get to where she was. Her marketing consultant also corroborated this, describing Busola as “soft-spoken and very respectful. She was very passionate about what she did. Very hard working. She was like a little child, always wanting to better her best. Very teachable.”
Bolanle’s transformation from shy and reserved to being more vocal and bold was evident in her business and personal life. As a realtor, her work involved interfacing with clients more. She put more work into this by hosting live videos periodically on Facebook where she discussed the property market in Nigeria. On social media, she transformed into a determined achiever sharing videos of her one-man army foray into the world of real estate. Her social media engagement grew from one person, her husband who regularly commented and liked all her posts to several thousand.
In 2017, Bolalne formally left Lanre Olayinka and Co to begin work on what would ultimately be known as Croston Homes Consulting, a real estate company. The staff she worked with for four years were sad to see her go. Despite leaving, she still maintained a positive relationship with her former colleagues.
Owolabi told Neusroom: “Even after she left our company, people still talked about her. Those who joined after she left the company knew her because her name was always being repeated. In fact, I found out about her demise from a colleague who joined after she left us. He came across the news reporting of her death on Monday, December 26, 2022, and reached out to me to confirm.”
Owolabi described Bolanle as a woman with a strong positive drive backed by religious faith. She said she treated everyone like family and was willing to offer help and advice to everyone.
She said: “I will never forget one day in July last year when I was broke and was about to leave the office. I called Bolanle and told her. She asked me to send my account details and I received N10,000 immediately. That is how kind she was.”
On social media, people called her a real estate guru. Her clients shared testimony of what it felt like doing business with her. “She is my sure property plus”, one client wrote on Instagram.
“I had to always update myself because Bolanle would ask questions She wanted to know more,” Dele-Davids told Neusroom.
Her growing successes also radiated into her family. As she said in one jocular social media post, people express surprise when she attended parties with her husband because they assume everything about her was tied to only work. She was someone who truly cherished her family and was glad when she got pregnant in 2022 according to her friend and media personality, Bolanle Olukanni.
She wrote: “This year, I had asked if she needed prayer for anything and she said she wanted to have a baby. So I prayed with her about it. Many years, she waited for this pregnancy. I don’t know what else to say because I am so sad.”
“My daughter was pregnant with twins”, Bolanle’s mother said tearfully when the police visited her. “I suffered to raise her and even hawked to raise money to send her to school till she became a lawyer. Just when I was supposed to start reaping the fruit of my labour, they took her away from me.”
The killing field called Ajiwe Police Station
Shortly after Bolanle was shot by Vandi, the Nigerian government went into action perhaps partly due to the outcry that greeted the Christmas day shooting. President Muhammadu Buhari issued a statement condemning the killing and the leadership of the police vowed to bring justice against the perpetrator. The inspector general of police, Alkali Baba Usman recommended the suspension of Vandi while the commissioner of police in Lagos paid a consolation visit to the family of the bereaved. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu promised Lagosians that justice will be served.
But few Nigerians are convinced that this would be the last time such an incident will happen. Less than 20 days before Bolanle was killed, 31-year-old, Gafaru Buraimoh, was shot by police from the same Ajiwe station on his way to buy groceries. His death sparked public distress in Ajah, although police were quick to put it under check by dispersing tear gas.
Ajiwe police station came under attack during the 2020 EndSARS protest. Irate youths specifically targeted it due to its infamous reputation for profiling young men in the Ajah axis and arresting them and locking them up only to release them after payment of ‘bail’. A resident of Thomas estate which is close to the police station told Neusroom on the condition of anonymity that policemen from the station carry out several atrocities in the police station and the Ajah axis, but most of the atrocities do not make the news.
He said: “For every daytime killing by a policeman from Ajiwe station that makes the news, they are 5 night-time killings that nobody hears about.”
The source noted that the officers from the station are so notorious that young people in the area joke that it is better to go out with your ATM so as to pay officers through POS than to forget it at home and risk being arrested.
He said: “To them, every young man with a car is a yahoo boy and every young girl is a prostitute. Underbridge in Ajah is their cash point where they make money daily. If another EndSARS protest happens today, best believe that station will be the first to go.”
The source also claimed that people suspected of crime usually buy their way out of detention and the police would claim they escape. In March 2020, one Kelechi Ezeanni, accused of sexually assaulting a minor was apprehended and handed over to the police in Ajiwe. A couple of days after, the police claimed that he escaped, a news that many disbelieve.
Bolanle’s death has left a bitter taste in the mouth of her loved ones. Her husband in a simple Facebook post wrote: “BARR. Mrs. Bolanle was murdered in the early hours of the 25th Dec 2022 while returning home from a family outing after church service by an officer of the Nigerian police force attached to Ajiwe police station Ajah.
“The Entire family is devastated and all we can ask for at this time is for the public to kindly allow the family grieves this great Loss”
Many of her friends are still struggling to accept the permanence of her untimely death. On her memorial page, friends share their experiences with her, many talking about her kindness and willingness to help others while expecting nothing from anyone in return.
One of them wrote poignantly: “Aunty Bolanle!!
“I remembered that very Sunday you said you wanted to talk to me..
You said a lot of things but I can only recall your concluded statement” Priscilla, always do good in everything you do and keep being a good person”.
“Your soft-spoken words rang in my ears as soon as I heard about your sudden departure.
“You will be greatly missed ma.
“Adieu Aunty Bolanle.”
