The life and dreams of vivacious Bamise Ayanwola were cut short after she boarded the wrong bus. She was murdered brutally. She was raped, her sex organs dissected. Her family went to court, seeking justice, but the case dragged on, with family members’ lives in limbo and all desperately needing closure.
Our own Damilola Odunukan followed up the story by seeking out Bamise’s family members, who granted her explosive interviews:
Bamise Ayanwola
Bamise Ayanwola, a 22-year-old tailor, who grew up in the suburb of Lagos State, was such a loving, kind and empathetic young lady as described by her family. Her parents went into mourning when she became a part of the femicide statistics – an epidemic ravaging Nigeria in recent times.
The last child of a family of six. Born on November 29, 1999 by an aged mother, Madam Comfort and Pa Ayanwola, both septuagenarians, in the Alimosho Local Government area of Lagos State. Bamise, like many young Nigerians of this generation, enrolled in a privately run tailor shop on the street where she spent her childhood, to learn the basics of sewing. From handling scissors to marking fabrics with the “tailor’s chalk”, Bamise soon became dexterous at handling client’s fabrics and making custom made wears for families and friends – one’s first client at their crafts.
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The yearning for more out of life geared her to getting a job as a “stylist tailor” at a fashion store in the Chevron area of the Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State, where she stayed and visited home every weekend.
Bamise was heading home to spend the weekend with her family and also celebrate her brother’s newborn, when she boarded the BRT plying the Lekki-Epe corridor. The awkward moment she had on the bus with the driver made her record her experience with the bus driver enroute Oshodi. Unfortunately, her fear soon became a reality, when she was raped and killed in the process.
Since the incident of her death occurred in 2022, the family recount their experiences, fears and doubts in the justice system, thus feeling neglected and their hope of getting justice for their daughter looks grey. The uncertainties and lack of trust in the judicial system have made the family recount the circumstances surrounding the murder of their daughter.
Femicide Cases in Nigeria:
In the last one year, there has been a surge in the killing of women by their spouses, relations or men in Nigeria. Speaking with the founder of a non-for profit organisation: “Document Our History Cares Foundation,” Ololade Ajayi, she said that her foundation recorded 135 cases of femicide in 2024 across the 36 states of the Federation. Ajayi expressed her dissatisfaction of how the Lagos State Government has been handling the case, given that Bamise captured what transpired between her and the driver on the bus that night. “At the end of the day, she was murdered; her body was found somewhere, and the BRT was parked at the BRT terminal,” she said.
On the other note, according to a 2024 United Nations report released during the 16 days of Activism between November 25 and December 10, 2024, at least one woman is killed every 10 minutes by a close relative or partner. This implies that 140 women die every day globally.
Despite the rise in the case of femicide in Nigeria, the country is yet to pass a bill to support the course and treat cases of women killings as femicide. Ajayi mentioned that it is one of the things her foundation is advocating for, which has led her team to visiting law courts, tracing cases of women killings to courts, police stations and ensuring that culprits are brought to book. “Femicide bill that explicitly states that once a case has been established as a femicide case, no need for delaying or unnecessary adjournment,” Ajayi stated.
In addition, female rights activist and lawyer, Enitan Oluwa, mentioned that Bamise’s death would have been swept under the carpet like other cases of failed sexual transactions, if there had been no video evidence of what happened on the bus. Oluwa said: “The mother would have faced double-jeopardy: one you’re losing your child who is not even up to 25 and you’re losing her to the story of her being a ‘runs girl’. Moreover, no case of femicide is justified, whether they are sexual workers or otherwise; their death is not justifiable.”
The Ayanwola Family’s narration:
On a narrow dusty road far from the usual and normal chaotic busy life of Lagos sited the Ayanwola family house. A girl of about 10 years old screamed: “Mummy,” as Damilola Ayanwola hooted her tricycle to announce her arrival at her family house with the reporters.
Few minutes into the arrival, Mr. and Mrs. Ayanwola were ushered into their sitting room to speak with Damilola Odunukan about the court case of their late daughter, Bamise Ayanwola, on December 7, 2024. Mrs. Comfort Ayanwola narrated how the late Bamise’s siblings have been visiting the Lagos State High Court at Tafawa Balewa Square on Lagos Island from their home in Ayobo since 2022, without a headway in the court hearing.
Comfort, while speaking, said that she had a few questions to ask the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the government; she wondered why the State Counsel, Abayomi Omotubora, has been unexplainably absent from the court.
Bamise learned tailoring at a fashion school not too far from her residence in the Ayobo area of Lagos State, before she went to Chevron, Eti-Osa LGA. According to Comfort, Bamise wanted more for herself, so she did her freedom at the first fashion centre before proceeding to Chevron to learn the advanced fashion design skill. “She did her graduation from the first fashion institute at the first place, where she learned the skill, before she proceeded to Chevron,” where she worked before her demise, Comfort explained.
Comfort recounted that Bamise had no phone, while she was at Chevron, but paid them visits often when she had a work-free day to check on the family. The Ayanwola family expressed their displeasure about the prolonging of the case. She expressed that the case would have been handled with swiftness, if it had affected the “high and mighty” in the society and no “soul” would have been spared without thorough investigation and prompt apprehension of suspects.
Every occurrence and incident creates a lasting impact on different individuals, especially the case as grievous as Bamise’s cold-blooded murder. As humans, our coping threshold varies and humans manage stress and trauma differently.
The gruesome killing of Bamise has left an unhealed wound in the heart of Ebunoluwa Ayanwola, Bamise’s immediate elder sister, who said that she is still traumatised by her late sister’s experience on the government owned transit. Ebunoluwa said: “Early in the morning, as early as 4:30am, in the BRT bus, going to work, some sleep in the bus, because they are rest assured that I am in safe hands.” She feared that the incident has tainted the image of the transport company, if the safety of the citizens is not guaranteed on a state-owned transit.
In her narration, she said she was pregnant when the incident occurred and this prompted her to tell the First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, to empathise with their 75-year-old mother, who had her children late in life, during her courtesy visit to the family at the peak of the incident. Ebunoluwa said that she is yet to heal from the traumatic experience of her late sister’s untimely death, and this has affected her work and mobility, being a photographer, and her job requires her to move around and travel as the case may be. She said: “Ever since then, I have grown a phobia for going out.”
The night of Bamise’s alleged murder:
On the night of Bamise’s alleged murder on the journey between Chevron and Oshodi along the Lekki-Epe expressway, she had earlier updated her friend, whose identity is, until, the time of press, unknown to the family. Bamise, due to fear and skepticism of the unusual late-night operation of the BRT and the driver’s unhealthy sexual advances towards her on the bus that night, stealthily recorded a video of the driver while on the journey, telling her friend about her experience on the bus that night.
Few minutes into the journey, three other passengers – two male and a female – joined her on the bus. This was the beginning of Bamise’s panic attack, as the new passengers’ suspicious behaviour and the driver’s sexual innuendos towards her sparked an intense fear, which, further, drowned her confidence of her safety on the bus.
According to the voice on the video, Bamise told her friend to not share the video with anyone, to avoid being labelled a paranoia should nothing happen, eventually. Unfortunately, her fear was justified, when her remains were found along Carter Bridge, nine days after the bus scenario, with her genitals tampered with.
Comfort, Bamise’s mother said that the circumstances surrounding her daughter’s demise would have been compromised had she not sent her friend updates about her whereabouts and her experience with the driver on the bus the said night.
“My daughter is not a wayward child; she was always open about her movements to any one of us. She always told us about her movement, if she was heading to a place and needed to call on at another venue before coming home, she would call us to say, oh, I am heading to another place before coming home. She was a straightforward girl,” Comfort said.
“We heard what Bamise said on the night of the incident; she (Bamise) told her friend that three other persons boarded the bus besides her that night – three men and one female,” Comfort recounted.
Meanwhile, Bamise was a bit skeptical about her safety on this sad night, as she wondered why the BRT was still operating at such an hour of the night; however, remembering it was a government owned public transit allayed her fear. From the information gathered, her friend, whose identity still remains sketchy, told her to alight from the bus, if she was not comfortable being on the bus with the bus driver, Andrew Nice Ominikoron, and the other three passengers that boarded enroute Oshodi. Following Bamise’s uneasy feeling on the bus, she told her she would give her a phone call the moment the bus arrived at her destination – the Oshodi BRT terminal. Unfortunately, the journey lasted a lifetime as Bamise never arrived at her destination. Her remains were found at Carter bridge nine days after.
When asked about this mysterious friend, her whereabouts and any further information on Bamise’s experience on the bus that night, Comfort said that she has never set her eyes on the said friend, nor does she know her name. However, Damilola Ayanwola, Bamise’s sister, said her name is Felicia.
Speaking on the state of Bamise’s body, when she was recovered from Carter bridge nine days after, Damilola Ayanwola suspected that her sister’s genital was removed, because, when they saw her private female reproductive organ, it was wide and open. She recounted that even a pregnant woman, who put to bed, would not have such an open genitalia. So, she feared that Bamise’s genital was tampered with as it was too wide for a 22-year-old whom the family knew was a virgin before her death.
The state in which they found her sister made them have a doubt on the autopsy result to confirm the cause of her death. “When I saw my kid sister, her private part was open. Even if you just put to bed, it will close back.”
Meanwhile, the result of the autopsy “was that she had trauma, blood already entered her brain, and that was what prompted the death”, Damilola said. She believes that there was more to the cause of her sister’s death, because, according to her, there was no bruise or any physical mark or injury on Bamise’s body, when they saw her body. “Even if someone does not die, and you fall out of a moving vehicle, you will have wounds, physical wounds people can see. So, she was not thrown out of the bus”, Damilola said. Damilola said that the autopsy results indicated that Bamise sustained internal injury, which allegedly caused her death.
The following week after they had visited the Oshodi BRT terminal, Damilola recalled that someone, whose identity was not revealed, gave them Andrew’s phone number. At first attempt, Andrew’s number was unreachable, but after about a couple of days, they re-dialed his number, he answered the call, spoke to them in a cordial manner, however the moment he realised that it was the Ayanwola family, he hung up on them and never answered their calls afterwards.
Andrew’s suspicious behaviour made the family seek help of a retired Police officer, who assisted with the tracking of the phone call conversation on the backend. “One of Bamise’s friends at Obasanjo area, the father happens to be a police officer; she spoke with her father, and he tracked Bamise’s phone as well as Andrew’s phone,” Damilola said.
The police officer, after tracking the phone, allegedly discovered that Bamise’s phone was last traced to where Andrew was apprehended. However, the Police Officer, perhaps, due to unknown reasons, bowed to pressure, as the tracking became unsuccessful, afterwards and was eventually halted. No one knew why Bamise’s phone could no longer be tracked afterwards.
Meanwhile, while Bamise was on the bus that night, Ebunoluwa said that her deceased sister had posted on her WhatsApp status that night: “God, have mercy on me; it is your protection I need.” Ebunoluwa said that Bamise added a crying emoji to express her fear on the bus that night. Ebunoluwa said that although she saw the status, it was late, because she had exhausted her data subscription and it was a close friend who called her attention to Bamise’s WhatsApp status, when they were looking for her the following day. “Immediately, I had to recharge my data, and I went to her status, thank God that it was not up to 24 hours, so, the status was still up and I saw what she posted,” Ebunoluwa said.
Ebunoluwa recounted that she would have been the first to reach out to her sister, had she seen the distress status her sister updated the night of the incident. Despite Dr. Sanwo-Olu’s promise, the family is yet to get justice; “she put hands on her chest; she vouched for us and said there will be justice,” Ebunoluwa said.
On the other hand, Damilola made a shocking revelation that an unidentified person who witnessed how Bamise’s remains were dumped around the Carter bridge hinted that there was a black SUV that was behind the BRT when her body was brought out of the bus.
According to hearsay, Damilola said that the alleged three passengers that joined the bus after Bamise entered the black SUV, immediately her body was dumped at Carter Bridge that night. “When they came down from the BRT, they entered a black SUV.”
Lagos State Government’s Intervention
In the early weeks of the incident, Mr Ayanwola, Bamise’s father, said that the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, invited him to his office at the Alausa Secretariat, where he promised him that the case would not be swept under the carpet and everyone involved would be fished out and convicted if found guilty of the crime. Ayanwola said that during his visit, “I insisted that they should let us know the other three accomplices. And I told the First Lady that Andrew did not perpetrate the act alone, he had accomplices, and the First Lady also attested to it, that they knew.”
Meanwhile, the following day, when Damilola and her other siblings visited the Oshodi terminal to inquire about the whereabouts of Bamise and as well inform them about the video Bamise had sent to her friend while on the bus, she said a staff member of the BRT they spoke with told them that the company would check the Closed Circuit Television footage to know what happened that night.
However, upon the State Government’s intervention, Damilola said that Governor Sanwo-Olu told the family during the heat of the incident that “BRT has no CCTV”. This contradicted the claims of the BRT staff, who had earlier told them at the Oshodi terminal that they would inspect the BRT CCTV installed on the bus to verify the allegations against Ominikoron.
Case Trial:
The family believes that the case is being prolonged and they express their fears towards the justice system of the country, given that the State Counsel, Abayomi Omotubora, has refused to appear in court during some of the court hearings. In a conversation with the family, Damilola explained that Andrew has been absent from court for the flimsiest of excuses. First she said: “The prosecution counsel, Abayomi Omotubora, said that because of the Okada ban in Lagos.” She also added that Andrew has been absent from about four court hearings “because they said he fell down on Sunday. On Monday there was a court hearing, so, he fell down on Sunday, he has wounds on his leg, so he could not come,” Damilola said.
Given that Andrew and his lawyer have been incessantly absent from the court hearings, the family are asking questions vis-à-vis the other suspected accomplices, the alleged three passengers that boarded the bus after Bamise. “Where are they?” Damilola inquired.
Since the case commenced at the Lagos State High Court, at the TBS, Lagos Island, Damilola said that Omotubora has been absent “for about 10 sittings, Abayomi Omotubora didn’t show up”. And anytime he showed up, he would “drag them back”.
On the other hand, one would wonder why Andrew’s absence from court was because of the “Okada ban” in Lagos, giving the gravity of the case as his. So, this situation begs for answer, because, it still remains uncertain if Andrew has been granted bail or he still remains in the police custody. These are a few of the gray lines in the case.
There were reports that Omotubora would tell the court that he was on “his way and he would not show up”, Ebunoluwa hinted. On the day of the last court hearing, November 29, Omotubora was alleged to have sent a representative to the court that he was “critically ill”. This was the statement he made at around 8am on the same day of the court sitting, without giving a prior notification.
END
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