Features
New twists, alleged cover-up trail death of Bamise
By Adebayo Obajemu
Concerned and worried Nigerians have not let up in reacting to the gruesome killing of 22-year-old Oluwabamise Ayanola who was initially declared missing after boarding a Lagos Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, only for her lifeless body to be found at the Carter Bridge by the police before depositing it at morgue of the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, Lagos days later.
The deceased, said to be a fashion designer, allegedly boarded the BRT bus with number plate 240257 from Chevron bus stop at Lekki to Oshodi, at about 7p.m., heading to her elder brothers place at Idimu. But she never got to her destination and could not be reached on her phone until her remains were found.
Fleeing driver of the BRT bus, Andrew Nice was arrested in his hideout at Ososa, Ogun state by the Department of State Services, DSS. He was, thereafter, handed over to the police. He was arrested alongside a man that harboured him.
Meanwhile, the alleged perpetrated was on Thursday accused by another lady of raping her last in the same bus after picking her up at night, and subsequently paid hush money for her silence.
BusinessHallmark, who spoke with some residents of Isale Eko area, opposite Ilu Binrin Estate, where the decomposed body of Oluwabamise was dumped, said that when her body was discovered a day after the incident, some body parts were no longer found. This position is contrary to police claims that nothing was missing in her body.
Nice, the driver of Bus Rapid Transit vehicle allegedly made a startling confession in a video immediately done after his arrest that he did something dirty with Bamise suggesting that he had an unlawful canal knowledge of the young lady.
She forced herself out, she was crying for help. Because of the dirty act I have done, I was afraid, the driver said.
The driver had later in a seemly cooked up video released last Monday denied his involvement in Bamises murder — a statement which attracted the outrage of many Nigerians on social media. An online medium had first raised the alarm over different accounts and even the appearance of the suspect, stressing that something was amiss.
When he was first arrested, the suspect looked dishevelled and unkempt, and confessed to the crime, only to later appear in the second video well dressed and denying his complicity. The victim had in her chat with a friend before losing contact hinted of the danger she was facing and the SUV car that tailed the bus on the journey. Her harvested organs may suggest that there was a conspiracy involving more than the suspect.
Also the indifference and alleged denial of the bus company to the initial allegations pointed to collusion, as they refused to assist the family identify the suspect, whose picture the victim had forwarded to her friend prior to her death.
The question that Nigerians are asking is: why did the Bus company say none of their buses was out at the time of the incident? And why the hastily cooked up video? Why has Lagos State government not sent representative to commiserate with the grieving family of the murdered lady?
During the journey, the fashion designer was said to have observed that the driver was not picking up other passengers at subsequent bus stops along the route. Disturbed by the development, she allegedly sent a message and voice note to her friend telling her of predicament. It was the last time her friend and family members heard from her.
Last Monday, she was found dead on Carter Bridge, according to the Lagos State Police Command.
The Lagos State Police Command regrets to inform the public that Oluwabamise Ayanwole, the 22-year-old lady who got missing in transit while on board a BRT bus on 26/2/2022 has been found dead, Adekunle Ajisebutu, Lagos police spokesperson, had said.
The corpse was found lying on the Carter Bridge by Ogogoro Community, Lagos Island. The corpse has been deposited at the morgue of the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, for an autopsy.
Speaking, the driver said he was accosted by some gunmen who forced him to stop around Carter Bridge and forcefully took the lady away.
I picked her from Chevron and I picked the other three guys at Agbegi, when those guys showed me the weapon as I was driving, I couldnt be myself anymore. Fear came over me, so whatever they (the men with gun sitting beside me) asked me to do, I did, he had said.
So when I followed that Carter Bridge, that overhead bridge, they told me to stop there.
When they ordered me to stop, they asked me to open the door, when I opened the door, then they started dragging her. I saw her crying for help but I was helpless. When the issue happened, I ran away because I was afraid, he had noted.
The driver’s strange account of what happened has been criticized by Nigerians and the brother-in-law to the deceased, Engr. Johnson Omilana, who told a newspaper (not Business Hallmark) that the driver was lying. He is lying, all he said were lies. I am happy he ran away the first time because he knows the crime he committed. I believe he had no idea that the lady did some recordings and shared them with her friends while on the bus.
My surprise is, it was not quite long when we discovered her dead body that we had that the man was arrested and paraded. He confessed that he ran away because he was afraid. The question to ask is, why did’nt he report the incident to the companys management and the police?
When I asked the management of BRT if they had knowledge that any of their vehicles were on the road, they said no, all their vehicles were intact and in good condition. When I went there initially, I had only the recording, not the bus number; it was after a while that her senior brother advised I zoomed into the recording to get the bus number and I did and got the number 240257 which I showed to them and they told us to wait that the bus driver will soon arrive.
“So, I asked some people to wait while I went to Akinpelu police station to make a statement. When I got back to the terminus, I was told to go to Ajah where she boarded the bus so that I can trace it from that place.
Surprisingly, the driver showed up in the companys uniform. For me, justice must prevail because that driver is not telling the truth. Everyone knows that there is nothing hidden again. We have a lawyer on the ground on this case.
Many Nigerians who spoke with BusinessHallmark on the matter accused the driver of lying about the circumstances that led to the death of the girl. They indicted the driver and accused him of complicity while others said he was yet to say the truth as regards what transpired.
Joke Adeolu, a civil servant doubted the driver’s account, saying he must have been carrying out such a beastly assignment for long.
This man and his evil colleagues have been doing this for long. I think they were just unfortunate this time that the poor girl made a video and dropped several voice notes before the driver carried his partners in crime.
If they were aware she left traces, I guess they would have let her go and looked for another victim. The driver went to park the bus, resumed work normally the following day, only to run away when the family members of the girl came to ask for her whereabouts. He was’nt expecting anybody to have known. Its very likely he belongs to a ritualistic syndicate.
In her reaction, made to an online medium, Nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham criticized the Lagos State government over the dastardly manner Bamise was killed.
“It is sad enough that Nigeria is not safe but to think that a place or thing considered as government property like BRT is now considered a dangerous place should get all of us concerned. But I have a few questions for Lagos State Government, why are the BRT buses not fitted with CCTV cameras?” she wrote.
“What measure have you put in place since this incident that made you assure Lagosians that the BRT buses are now safe? Are we truly safe or your speech is just government rhetoric, telling us what we want to hear?”
She advised Lagosians to be extra careful and observant while sending her condolence to the family of the deceased.
Last Friday, a Yaba Chief Magistrates Court sitting in Lagos, ordered the remand of Andrew Nice Omininikoron, a BRT driver, in the Ikoyi Custodial Centre for the alleged murder and rape of a 22-year-old lady, Oluwabamise Ayanwola. Magistrate O.A. Salawu ordered that Mr. Omininikoron, 47, be remanded for 30 days.
She held that the accused was to be remanded pending legal advice from the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP). According to reports, the defendant is charged with conspiracy, murder, rape and misconduct with regards to corpses.
The charge was read to the defendant but his plea was not taken by the court. The magistrate adjourned the case until April 11 for the DPPs advice.
Earlier, the Officer in charge of the Legal Department at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yetunde Cardoso., said that Omininikoron committed the offence at 8 p.m. on February 26, along Ajah-Oshodi expressway, on a Lagos State BRT bus with code number 257. She said that Mr. Omininikoron, who was on duty as a driver, raped Ms Ayanwola and pushed her out of the moving BRT bus.
The offence, she said, contravened the provisions of sections 411, 223, 260 and 165 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised). According to legal minds spoken to by Business Hallmark, Sections 223 stipulates the death penalty for the offence of murder, 260 provides for life imprisonment for rape and 165 carries five years imprisonment for misconduct with regards to corpses.
The Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwoolu was billed to visit the family to commiserate with them but it was later aborted, citing other engagements, a development criticized by some Nigerians as insensitivity. Though, the wife of the Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, has described Bamise’s muder as sad, shocking, and devastating, many Nigerians said the first lady or her husband ought to have visited the bereaved family.
As mothers, we are devastated; we are in shock; we are not happy. Lagos State is not known for ritual killings and we will not tolerate such, Mrs. Sanwo-Olu was quoted to have said in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Office of the Lagos State First Lady, Olubukonla Nwonah.
Investigations are going on and I am sure there will be justice. Mr. Governor is not sleeping. There will certainly be justice, she assured.
