In Search of Justice for Murdered Bamise

The kidnapping and gruesome murder of Oluwabamise Ayanwole during a trip on a state-run Bus Rapid Transit vehicle on February 26 has left many shattered, but one question sadly hangs on: Who killed Bamise? Ferdinand Ekechukwu reports

“There are three men and one woman in the bus. The woman is sitting at the back. That’s the number of the bus in case. Please pray for me.’’ Those last words of Miss Bamise Ayanwole betrays glimpse of hope of her survival as she was snatched while on transit. For days, her case raised concern among members of the public as well her family members opined that she must have been kidnapped for ritual purpose.  

Her corpse was later discovered nine days after on Carter Bridge, Lagos Island. Recall the 22-year-old was declared missing on her way from the Lekki area of the state. Bamise who worked as tailor was kidnapped while returning to Ota from Ajah on Saturday, February 26 when she boarded a Bus Rapid Transport bus going to Oshodi at about 7 p.m. at Chevron Bus-Stop. After boarding the bus, she noticed that there were only three other passengers – all men.

Sensing danger as the bus did not stop to pick any more passengers, Bamise, according to reports, became worried and alerted her friend, Felicia Omolara, via WhatsApp recording and voice notes sent to her. The voice notes showed that the bus driver said he liked Bamise and asked for her name and other details. She told her friend to pray for her as she became suspicious of the bus driver and in response, the friend told her to alight at Oworonsoki bus stop — before Oshodi.

Bamise had also sent a video to her friend showing how dark it was in the bus. The BRT diver was arrested last Monday at Ososa, Ogun State by SSS operatives. The BRT driver Nice Andrew Omininikoron, suspected to have abducted and murdered the young lady, when interrogated said his bus was hijacked by three armed men who threatened to kill him. Upon arrest, the driver said he picked Ms Ayanwola, and three male passengers later joined the bus.

Mr. Omininikoron claimed that the men pointed guns at him and told him to cooperate while the deceased cried for help. The driver said he was afraid when he saw guns and followed their command. The BRT driver also claimed he thought the deceased was still in the vehicle when he drove off because he saw her hold on to the iron in the vehicle while the kidnappers were dragging her. “I picked her from Chevron, and the other three guys at…when those guys show me his weapon as I was inside, I can’t be myself anymore,” Mr. Nice said.

“Fears have come in, so, whatever the man with the gun told me, I do. I followed that Carter Bridge, that overhead bridge, they ordered me to stop there, they say I should open the door, when I open the door, then when they come down, they now start dragging her, when I saw that she was crying for help, actually, I was helpless.”

Following her death, the Lagos State Government last Tuesday suspended Bus Rapid Transport operations as a precaution after intelligence on “planned attacks”. This left many commuters stranded at various bus stations in Lagos on Tuesday due to the state directive to suspend operation in sympathy of Bamise Ayanwole. The Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos, was heavily guarded by armed security men – officers of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, and Department of State Services (DSS) – over proposed protest to demand justice for slain Bamise.

But sympathisers in their numbers besieged Bamise’s residence to condole with the family. They carried placards with inscriptions, “We want Justice for Bamise”, “Do not sweep under the carpet, we want Justice.” They called on Lagos State Governor Sanwo-Olu and the Commissioner of Police to ensure justice is served. Some activists also stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly with the immediate elder sister of the deceased, Damilola to lament the gruesome murder of Bamise.

Narrating Bamise’s last moments, Damilola said, “Governor Sanwo-Olu, I am challenging you. My family is not wealthy, we are not influential but we have God. We work hard and struggle to survive. We are content with what we have. We are Christians to the core. Why has our last born been used for the things of the world? This is a money ritual case.

“They made her (Bamise) to suffer, they removed her private part. They did not kill her o, she suffered the pain and hell on earth before she moved to her destination. They forced her to stop at the bus stop she was not supposed to stop.” Describing the late Bamise, she said: “Bamise was patient, joyful person, she makes everyone happy in the family”. He (driver) said all these that it was an attack, why didn’t he report to their terminal that there was an attack? He didn’t report to the police station or his superiors.

“He now resumed back to work on Monday, please if this was an attack, why was he able to resume back to work on Monday? We met a man at the park who said Bamise had gone to enjoy herself that she will call us, and that she does not want to call now, because she was enjoying herself, while in pains where they were cutting her private part.

“They did not kill her before they cut her private part. My sister experienced hell-in-cell situation like that of wrestling before her last breath on earth. My mum who is 74 years old, and my Dad 84 years old, in the morning time, they didn’t mourn over any one of us the children, at this phase of their life, they are enjoying the little token that we are rendering to them.

“They used the death of Bamise to cause sorrow for the family. She had a dream to become a fashion designer and she was doing brilliantly well in the training but look at what they’ve caused. Please we want Justice.” The distraught mother, Comfort, who spoke with The Nation, said “All I want is justice which must be the truth and not anything that will cause those at the helm of affairs to tamper with the truth.

“I’m from Otun Ekiti, I call on the Ekiti State government to help us. Bamise is a prominent daughter of Ekiti. Please Lagos State and Ekiti State governments should collaborate and come together. I don’t have anyone except God. If not for God that had said that her (Bamise’s) time is up on earth, the handset she had before her demise was a new one because the one she was using was faulty.”

Bamise may just be one of the BRT bus victims as another victim of the driver arrested in connection with the murder presented extremely critical evidence. The female victim, whose name was not given, revealed that she was sexually molested inside the same BRT by the same driver in November 2021.

She claimed that she was subjected to sexual molestation after the suspect “switched off the light of the bus” while inside his BRT from the Alesh Bus Stop in Ajah to Jakande. He called the victim to sit at the front seat where he started perpetrating his heinous act. She stated that when the driver started making advances at her which she rejected, he brought a knife and “threatened to kill” her.

The new revelation came amid anger and a whirlpool of emotions surrounding the death of Bamise, whose body was found with some vital organs allegedly missing. The BRT driver, Ominnikoron has been arraigned at a Yaba Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State and remanded for 30 days. Magistrate O.A. Salawu held that Ominnikoron was remanded pending legal advice from the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution.

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, however, not taken by the court. Salawu adjourned the case until April 11 for DPP advice. Earlier, the Officer in charge of the Legal Department at the State Criminal Investigation Department Panti, Mrs. Yetunde Cardoso, said that Ominnikoron committed the offence at 8 p.m. on February 26, along Ajah-Oshodi Expressway, on a Lagos State BRT bus with code number 257.

The offence, she said, contravened the provisions of sections 411, 223, 260 and 165 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised). Sections 223 stipulates 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.