Bamise Ayanwola’s family members say the deceased was a virtuous lady.
The 22-year-old was declared missing after boarding a Lagos Bus Rapid Transit, BRT, on February 26 only for her lifeless body to be found at the morgue of the Mainland Hospital, Yaba, days later.
Bamise, a fashion designer, was said to have boarded the BRT bus with number plate 240257 from Chevron bus stop at Lekki to Oshodi, at about 7 pm, heading to her elder brother’s place at Idimu..But she never got to her destination and could not be reached on her phone until her remains were found.
The fleeing BRT bus driver, Andrew Nice, was later arrested in his hideout at Ososa, Ogun state, by the Department of State Services, DSS. He was, thereafter, handed over to the police.
The driver, in a video apparently recorded moments after he was arrested, seemed to admit to raping the lady. Nice, however, claimed that his bus was hijacked by armed men who dragged Bamise off of it. He suggested that those persons must have killed her.
His fresh claim was made during an exclusive interview with TVC News.
“He (Nice) 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,” Bamise’s brother-in-law, Johnson Omilana, was quoted to have said.
“My surprise is, it was not quite long when we discovered her dead body that we heard that the man was arrested and paraded. He confessed that he ran away because he was afraid. The question to ask is, why didn’t he report the incident to the company’s 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 he boarded the bus so that I can trace it from that place.
“Surprisingly, the driver showed up in the company’s 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.”
Speaking about the condition of the mother of the deceased, on the deceased mother’s she said, “Her condition is worse. She is in pain. She is already losing her mind. Her situation is not encouraging right now. The late Bamise just graduated last year from her fashion school and started work recently at Ajah. She promised her aged parent’s good life.
“On that fateful day, she bought children clothes for her elder sister who just put to bed but we didn’t see any of those items. Right now, the environment is tense, filled with tears, pains, anger and agony, the father is trying hard not to break down completely but the mother is totally inconsolable. She was a very good Christian from her home and she was still a virgin.”
One of Bamise’s sisters, Titilayo, also said a BRT official told them Bamise “went to have a nice time and would call us when she was done”.
“He said this even though he already knew what happened,” she alleged.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has promised to ensure that justice is served.
