By Seyi Odewale
As the body of the 22-year-old lady Ayanwole Oluwabamise, who got missing after boarding an Oshodi-bound Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) bus at Lekki, Eti-Osa Local Government, Lagos State, has been found and recovered by the Nigeria Police, a constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Ebun Adegboruwa, has described the alleged killing of the 22-year-old lady as “too chilling to swallow”.
Ayanwole, a Lekki based fashion designer, was allegedly abducted by a driver of the Lagos Bus Services Limited after she boarded an LBSL bus, popularly known as BRT, at the Chevron area of Lekki en route to Oshodi on February 25, 2022.
But her body was found yesterday after the police were alerted that a corpse was abandoned on a bridge linking Lagos Island to the Mainland. Unconfirmed reports said some of her body parts were missing.
Spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Adekunle Ajisebutu, in a statement yesterday confirmed that the dead body of the lady has been found.
He added that operatives of the state Police Command arrested the driver of a Bus Rapid Transit, who drove the deceased.
“The driver of the BRT has been arrested,” Ajisebutu stated.
He also vowed that the killers of Ayanwole, who got missing in transit while on board the bus, would face justice.
According to the PPRO, the abductors dumped the remains of the lady on the Carter Bridge by Ogogoro Community.
Her family was said to have been informed and the body was moved to the morgue.
“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. 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 autopsy,” the statement said.
The lady was said to have boarded the bus at about 7:30pm and became suspicious when the yet-to-be-identified driver told her to sit at one of the back seats.
According to a source, Ayanwole, who became uncomfortable, sent out voice notes and a short clip to express her concern to one of her friends.
Her mother was seen in another video trending on social media wailing in front of a bus number, 240257, in one of the terminals of LBSL, said to be the bus Bamise had boarded.
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Also, her elder brother, James, also claimed that Bamise was heard struggling with someone on the bus during the last phone conversation with her.
Meanwhile, a constitutional lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Ebun Adegboruwa, has described the alleged killing of the 22-year-old lady as “too chilling to swallow”.
He added that the details of the gruesome killing of the lady showed that life has become more endangered in the state despite measures being put to stem the tide.
“The gory details of the cold-blooded murder of Miss Oluwabamise Ayanwole are too chilling to swallow. The undisputed fact so far is that she was picked by a Bus Rapid Transit of the Lagos State Government around the Chevron area of Lagos State, alive and has now been found dead.
“The details of this gruesome act showed clearly that life has become more endangered in the state, even though measures may have been put in place to stem this tide. Cases of missing persons and kidnapping have been on the increase lately and this should call for concern by all and sundry. It is worrisome that a government facility, meant to ease the burden of people, has turned out to be a death trap.
“While appealing for calm to allow the relevant security agencies to conclude their investigation, the following questions need urgent answers,” he said.
The questions begging for answers, according to Adegboruwa are: “Are the BRT buses not equipped with CCTV? Is there no tracking device attached to these buses? What steps have been taken to forestall this dastardly occurrence?
“Are there no security operatives attached to the buses to maintain law and order? Why is Lagos State keeping mum over the incident involving the life of a citizen? Do you just find a dead body at noon, with all relevant parts missing?”
However, operatives of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) yesterday paraded the bus driver, who was reportedly arrested in Odogbolu area of Ogun State after disappearing into thin air after the disappearance of the lady. He claimed the lady was attacked by some assailants who dragged her down from the bus. According to him, he was asked to take the Carter Bridge linking Lagos Island with the mainland when he was asked to stop by some people, who attacked the lady and eventually dragged her down. He claimed he thought the late lady was still holding on to the iron rod of the bus when he sped off, thinking that she was still on board.
“When those guys showed me their weapons as I was saying, I was not myself. Fear have come over me. Whatever the man with the gun tells me is what I do. When I followed Crater Bridge, after that overhead bridge, they ordered me to stop and said I should open the door. When I saw that she was crying for help, me too, I was helpless. I was thinking that she was still in the vehicle holding the iron. So, I moved. I never knew that she has been dragged down,” he said.
Asked if he had any connection with those he claimed attacked the lady, he said: “I have no connection with anyone of them.”
In an evening TVC news broadcast yesterday monitored in Lagos, the brother of the deceased, who gave his name as Abegunde, said every member of the family was mourning the loss of the ‘baby’ of the house. The 22-yer-old, he said, was the last born of the family.
According to him, the late girl was preparing to attend the christening of his baby, whom she had already chosen a name for. “Everybody has been crying since the news of her death was announced,” he said, in an emotion laden voice.
