By Olusegun Olanrewaju
Two similar heart-rending stories and the nation is bloodily gutted with another grief. Uwaila Vera Omozuwa was studying Microbiology at a university in Nigeria’s southern city of Benin before she was brutally murdered by the goons of darkness in June last year.
Oluwabamise Ayanwole’s turn came on February 26 this year. Also aged 22, she was reportedly killed by God-knows-who in a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on Carter Bridge in Lagos, before her body was tossed to a bus stop in the emblematic Ebute Ero area of Lagos Island for a public show by an SUV vehicle.
The life and times of the duo have symbolised the trauma many young girls and, indeed, many others are going through recently, in Nigeria’s newest era of suspected ritual and associated killings.
The late Ms Omozuwa, a theology enthusiast in her lifetime, had been found dead, lying half-naked in a pool of blood, at the church where she had been a member of the choir for many years, a church official testified.
Despite the best efforts of doctors to save her life, Omozuwa, whom her family described as “kind and intelligent,” died days after the attack.
A witness said, “She wanted to be a minister and preach the word of God. The church was her favorite place to be,” Judith, 24, said by phone. “That she was murdered where she always found peace is just devastating.” End of story one.
A man was arrested in connection with Omozuwa’s death. The police said forensics show that she was hit on the head with a fire extinguisher found at the scene.
Omozuwa’s family told CNN that medics said she was raped, “but the police have stopped short of calling it rape and instead described it as “inhumane sexual assault.”
The police later said it planned to strengthen its response to gender-based violence, adding that it had deployed special detectives across the country to work on gender violence cases. Nothing more has been heard about the matter
The force, through its then spokesman, Frank Mba, also called on citizens “to come forward with information” that could assist them in ongoing probes of sexual assault and domestic violence cases in the country.
It’s getting close to that anniversary, as another celebrated killing is stalking the nation’s collective etiquette.
Twenty-two-year-old Miss Oluwabamise Ayanwole went missing after boarding a Lagos Bus Rapid Transit Vehicle.
That was exactly four days after a journalist narrated on social media the untoward antics of some suspected government buses in Lagos who showed him their bad side for the littlest traffic offences.
After being taken on a merry-go-round in the metropolis, the newsman, who craved anonymity, said he was dropped as a solo passenger at a dreary situation in Oshodi after he had overheard that the bus would be driven to the same ‘Ebute Ero’ on the day of his encounter.
Bamise was later found dead with some body parts allegedly missing at Ebute Ero. She had boarded the bus at Chevron Bus Stop, Lekki, en route to Oshodi at around 7pm on a deadly day.
What happened before and thereafter could only be described by the driver of the bus, who is now the chief suspect after being nabbed by state agents after initially being declared missing.
The driver claimed he picked up Bamise “and some other men who then pointed a gun at him and asked me to stop at Carter Bridge.”
The real actors, he further claimed, asked him to open the door and they dragged Bamise out with them. He claimed he was too afraid to act.
Witnesses claimed that Bamise’s body was seen in their area at Ebute Ero, seen “when she was thrown off the bus”.
“They saw the bus drive away and an SUV following it, according to people to whom she was shouting for help before she gave up. People around reported the case at Ebute Ero Police station,” the message said.
Police spokesman Adekunle Ajisebutu, said Bamise’s body was found on Carter Bridge by Ogogoro community, Lagos Island.
He said, “The body has been deposited at the morgue of Mainland Hospital, Yaba, for autopsy. The bereaved family has been contacted and family members have identified the body as that of Oluwabamise Ayanwole, the lady earlier declared missing.
“The Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, is saddened by this incident and, therefore, expresses, on behalf of the management, officers, and men of the command, his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family,” he said.
The police also arrested guarantors of the BRT driver, who was said to have fled as his passenger was declared missing.
It was learnt that detectives had gone to the last known address of the suspect, said to be from Ekiti State, but were told that he moved out about a year ago.
Bamise’s whereabouts were finally unraveled by residents around Ebute Ero in Lagos Island, who disclosed that she was tossed out of a BRT bus half-naked, and with her private parts missing.
The nation has since been gutted with howling claims of the narratives of the cold-blooded murder. No sooner after, claims and adjuncts started rending the air, with ritual killing, rape, and the sundry topping the bill.
The Lagos State government has waded into the matter. The family of the deceased is crying for justice. Bamise’s sister, Elizabeth Ayanwola, said, weeping, “We want Justice for my sister. This is sad; it is wicked, we want Justice.”
Also, Bamise’s mother, 72-year-old Comfort Ayanwola, a mother of five boys and five girls, said she has been seriously disturbed since her daughter went missing.
Another relation called on the Lagos State government and the police to treat the case with seriousness, and punish all those involved in the barbaric act.
Inconsolable, Bamise’s father has also been crying since.
In Abuja, the House of Representatives has ordered an immediate probe into the murder.
Lagosians, on social media, urged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to ensure justice is served. That is the big question: Will justice be served? This is because the case has assumed a wider dimension. This is because of her death, Bamise was said to have been chatting on her phone with some acquaintances, who did not think it wise to report the matter to the law enforcement agencies
The way forward
The chairman emeritus of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu branch in Lagos, Barrister Levi Adikwaone, comments on the matter: “If you ask me whether or not justice will be served, I will say, yes, it is possible.
He told ThisNigeria over the weekend, “It is possible to serve justice if those that are responsible are there to dispense, and are prepared to prosecute justice, as well as dispense justice.”
But he adds, “Justice in this matter is not one-way traffic. It is justice for the victim whose soul is crying to heaven for God to punish whoever has wreaked havoc on her life.
The former alternate chairman, NBA Disciplinary Panel ‘B’ in Lagos State, also states, “The parents of the victim are also seeking justice. The state government is seeking justice. Society at large is seeking justice in the matter. And the suspects/suspects are also seeking justice.
“So, can justice be served? It depends on how interested the state government and law enforcement agents are prepared to pursuing justice in the case. It also depends on how prepared the parents are to pursue justice and are capable of.”
According to Adikwaone, “the society as a whole is involved. So also is the fourth estate of the realm -the press- who the press is prepared to indulge in investigative journalism, to get to the root of the matter so that justice can be done.”
He further told the correspondent, “It is not only the victims but the society at large. It is not justice to the victim (alone). Society is bleeding and crying. They can’t imagine how that can happen. Justice is not in the air.
“Once there is a gap in the flow of division of labour, it will affect justice delivery. The gaps could be if the state decides not to pursue, or the law enforcement agents refuse to pursue, or the defendants fail to pursue justice.”
On how the state can intervene in the matter to ensure delivery of justice, the barrister said, “First, we have to thank the ingenuity and intuition of the deceased, salute the intuition to seek help. We must thumbs down society for not coming to her aid.
“In a civilised society, perhaps she couldn’t have died. To have taken the initiative of alerting one or two persons on the suspicion of threat to her life.
“The consciousness of Nigerians on the preparedness of law enforcement agencies and general sensitivity on crime prevention in Nigeria is very low. We are always crying after the milk has been split.
“There are several things the Lagos State government can do. Morally, they first have to commiserate with the family of the deceased. The government or a senior government official has to do that. Secondly, they have to ensure a thorough investigation into the matter.
“Thirdly, if indeed the victim met her waterloo inside the BRT bus as claimed, the state government must consider compensation. Four, the state government, if convinced that a prima facie case has been made out of the investigation of the suspect or suspects, must bring full arms of threat to ensure prosecution and conviction. Five, and lastly, the state government once promised that the (BRT) vehicles have cameras (CCTVs). The government should ensure that at all times they are prepared to detect crimes in the buses.”
On his part another lawyer and politician, Kune Odesanya, told ThisNigeria in a chat, “Justice is always a process. I learnt that the suspect has been taken to court and ordered to be put in remand.”
On the likelihood of the Office of Director of Prosecutions (DPP) or other judicial and law enforcement agencies ‘frustrating’ the outcome of the trial, as had been cited in the past, Odesanya said, “There is always complacency on the part of some litigants. This is about murder. It is not only in Lagos. If you are reporting murder, there must be witnesses. Some will be complacent, saying, “let’s leave it for God”.
“But in this case, there is recorded evidence by the victim. There were videoing and callings. An investigation must be done. What do you expect from the government? BRT is a legal entity, separate from the state. It is a bus empire, not a civil service.”
According to the lawyer/All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, “They have not said it is the state that told or made me do so. But there also could be circumstantial evidence.
“Throughout the route, the bus could have stopped at bus stops to pick up passengers, according to its mandate, but they decided to pass through another route. Which means there is a hidden agenda. The bus drove through another route before ending up on the Carter Bridge. There was nobody to witness the communication, but the body was later dumped at Ebute Ero. She was sending messages to friends, oblivious of sending 112 of 797 emergency calls when you perceive danger.
“Her friends ought to have helped. She was relaying the situation on the ground.”
Past trends
As per a similar situation in the past, Odesanya adds, “The evidence provided in the past is not peculiar to the lady. Some laymen will not know the nitty-gritty of issues of law in this way.
“There are cultists in this area; police have apprehended many, but based on evidence…I saw you pull the trigger, nobody has been convicted.”
“In this particular case, the driver has not said, I did it, or I did not do it. But there could be circumstantial evidence: throughout the route, he passed through several routes. Why not stop at bus stops on the way? They dumped the body on Carter Bridge. There is a contradiction. The bus stop where the corpse was found and the route of the bus…”
General fears
There is no gainsaying the fact that commuters in our cities are going through a harrowing experience in boarding public buses.
“You enter the bus these days, but you are not sure whether you will get to your destination or not,” Mrs Adiola Kenku, a trader/housewife, says. “It is only Bamise now, but who knows who will be the next?” she queries.
Another frequent user of BRT and other buses offers, “Whenever I board a bus from my house in Ikotun, it is sleep all the way. I hope these days I never get into the hands or dens of head and body parts hunters.
“You never know what will happen these days o! The other day the LASTMA people arrested our bus at Oshodi. They ordered everybody to come down, not knowing your timer.
“Then, they will start driving up and down Lagos doing nothing. No wonder people are getting picked up and killed anyhow. From what we are hearing these days about ritual killers, man should be careful, or he or she would end up in untimely graves.”
