The family of Oluwabamise Ayanwola, a 22-year-old woman who went missing after boarding a Bus Rapid Transit vehicle (BRT) in Lagos, has accused Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led Lagos State government of cover-up in Bamise’s death.
The family made the accusation as February 28, 2025, marked the third year Bamise was killed after boarding the BRT bus while returning from work.
The family accused the state government of deliberate delay in the trial of the arrested BRT driver, Andrew Nice Ominikoron, who was arrested in connection with Bamise’s death.
The family also accused the state government of deliberate failure to arrest the rest of the fleeing suspects involved in the crime, saying that nothing passes the eyes of the government unless the government decides not to take the necessary actions.
Bamise went missing after she boarded a BRT vehicle from Chevron Bus Stop, Ajah to Oshodi around 7pm on February 26, 2022.
During the journey, the fashion designer was said to have observed that the driver was not picking up other passengers at subsequent bus stops along the route.
Disturbed, she messaged her friend and sent voice notes detailing her predicament. It was the last time her friend and family members heard from her and she was later declared missing.
She was later found dead on Carter Bridge, according to the Lagos State Police Command.
Speaking during an X Space organised by SaharaReporters in collaboration with Objectiv Media, one of Bamise’s elder brothers, Pelumi said, “As I speak to you, we are still in the struggle for justice. We are in the process of filing the final written address which was supposed to have happened like three months after the case started (in 2022).
“Because every evidence that is needed to prosecute the case, Bamise was able to make some recordings before she was killed. But it has been adjournment upon adjournment till now.
“Meanwhile, the Lagos State government gave a powerful delegation including the then Attorney General of the state, Moyosore Onigbanjo, the DPP Director, Dr. Babajide Martins, in their prowess and other lawyers in the matter could not unravel all other accomplices that were involved.
“Because we were made to know that two males and a lady entered the vehicle before she was murdered. But only the BRT driver is being tried now in the court. Unfortunately, I can’t say we are having a headway.”
The family noted that after the incident happened, Governor Sanwo-Olu’s wife visited the family once and with her visit and the legal delegation from the government, “We were like thank God the government is involved in this matter and that the matter would be swift.”
Pelumi further said, “When the wife visited, she told our family that Mr. Governor is with us and that he would do all he can and he promised to also come to pay condolence and support us.
“I am not aware if Mr. Governor has come to our house because I have not seen him. Some people said he has come but I have not seen him. I am not aware and none of my family members have received him in our house.”
He added, “Because of the reassuring voice of the governor then, we were not actually giving the media attention then because we felt like, since the number one man in the state is into the matter, it was going to be very swift.
“But since that time till now, it has not been easy. My parents are not the same again. Myself is not the same again. I can be very lively now and in the next moment I’m completely broken. The same thing with my parents and the other siblings. Everybody is broken.
“The support system we were getting from the Community for Development of Human Rights (CDHR) and from some well wishers who were following us at the initial stage, we are not getting them again.
“This is the third year and it is like the whole world and all the people that care about the matter have all forgotten us. Most of the time if we are going to court, we would have to tax ourselves.
“It was at the initial stage that we used to see some delegation from the government but after some time, nothing again.”
He noted that their former lawyer, Mr. Ogunlano did what he needed to do and fought for fiat so that the family could do the prosecution by themselves and enable the family to hire a private lawyer for the prosecution but the government refused to give the fiat.
“The state assured us that they were going to do whatever it takes to get justice in this matter but here we are, nothing has happened.”
Pelumi questioned, “Does anything pass the eyes of the government? I don’t think anything passes the eyes of the government. This government has all the arsenal it can use to unravel everything that happened inside that vehicle.
“The fact of CCTV and no CCTV is very controversial. Mr. Governor has gone back and forth on it and that shows that the syndicates are very powerful.
“But what investigation did the police do? It was DSS that went to pick the man (BRT driver) from where he was with his friend. They released his friend because they said the driver said the friend was not part of it.”
According to Pelumi, what is going on in court is indescribable because the driver ,” Is becoming chubby, more handsome and relaxed.
“In his steppings you will see somebody that has been reassured of something somehow.
“Meanwhile, in my family, it is everyday crying. My mother can be talking to somebody and in the next minute she is silent, and when she is silent like that, it means she is thinking about it again and that happens everyday, sometimes thrice a day.
“They now look older than their age. Even by their communication shows that they are not alright. They are not well. Both of them, their legs are not okay again. They cannot walk for five minutes without resting. It has taken a lot of toll on them.”
According to him, the autopsy results by a private pathologist and the government pathologist corresponded but the forensic analysis that would establish whether Bamise was gang-raped has not been released till date.
Asked if the family is suspecting that the suspects are being shielded and protected by the state, Pelumi said, “What we first saw on the Facebook post was that the BRT bus stopped at Carter Bridge along with an SUV vehicle.
“Those people alighted from the vehicle and went straight into the BRT bus. When they first asked the driver why he ran, he said because of what “we” did to Bamise.
“But after it was repackaged by TVC, that was the story of, “they pointed a gun at me” came up.
“How can I feel when the record that Bamise gave before the incident showed clearly that this is a syndicate. He (driver) refused to pick up other passengers until he got to where his own people were.
“The lady (Bamise) was relieved that he had picked up other passengers not knowing they were his people. Why was Bamise’s phone with him (the driver)?
“When he was caught, he was not caught alone. Somebody was with him but nothing has happened.
“When we went to the BRT station, there was one Raphael that said he knew his (the driver) whereabouts. That they see everyday.
“That he knows him very well. And that Bamise had alighted from the vehicle to go and visit her boyfriend, until we showed them the video and the voice note she did. After that, we did not see that man again.
“So, who owns the SUV? They dropped from the vehicle, dragged her out of the bus and carried her.
“All her belongings were inside the BRT bus until the man went to pack them, the lady among them washed the place, yet, those people that did the cleaning were not involved in the court to come and answer.
“How come she did the clean up, saw blood and did not report it. What happened to the driver’s call log? We also do not believe that there is no CCTV in the BRT bus.
“It is hard to convince us that there was no CCTV there and it is very difficult for them to claim that they don’t see it because I believe that nothing passes the eyes of the government.”
Pelumi said that the incident has completely broken his family’s trust on anything concerning the government, including the sight of Lagos government colours and BRT lanes in the state.
He said, “Because of this long time of back and forth, my parents now only say, ‘well, this one has happened and it has happened.
“‘Although until I am buried I will not forget it, if they like, let them do the right thing, if they don’t, let them do whatever they want to do.’
“That means, for us to have a kind of respite, there is nothing they can do that will replace Bamise but let justice be holistic.
“If it is not absolutely total, let us see that indeed, you (the government) are doing something to unravel every person that is involved in this criminal act.
“If we are seeing all these things…, based on the governor’s call, we hoped the matter would be swift but later, the reverse becomes the case, how do we then believe the government again?
“Do we have to continue using the media to broadcast the matter before something is done in a state that has failed to preserve us?
“For them to really make us have a kind of respite, justice must be holistic. Otherwise, we will just believe that they have done their own, God will do his own.
“For me, none of my family members can ever patronise BRT buses. I get agitated when passing their lanes.
“When we went for Bamise’s funeral, they wanted to use the small BRT bus to convey us back home but everybody rejected it. We don’t want it.”
He insisted that there could only be some respite when the state government brings everyone that is involved in this criminal act to justice.
Recall that Bamise’s sister had made a similar complaint in September 2023 when she narrated how the government abandoned the prosecution of her sister’s suspected killer.
Source: SaharaReporters
