Bamise: How Police, LBRT Mocked, Ignored Us For 48 hours – Family

The last has not been heard on the circumstances surrounding the murder of 22-year-old Oluwabamise Ayanwole, as her family has made agonising revelations at how their frantic efforts to get the relevant authorities to rescue their sister was treated with levity.

Bamise went missing after she boarded a Lagos Bus Rapid Transit at Chevron bus stop until her mutilated corpse was found on Carter Bridge by Ogogoro Community.

Narrating their pains to newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday, Bamise’s elder sister, Titilayo Ayanwole, and James Joel, a member of the extended family, lamented that their sister could have been alive if only police officers and staff of the Lagos Bus Service Limited took their pleas seriously.

They said that some staff of the LBSL mocked them and even attacked when they went there to show them some of the recordings Bamise made to tip-off on her attackers.

Mr. James Joel, amid tears, narrated how the family got Bamise’s videos and voice notes, and how they rushed out to get help but kept getting confronted by nonchalant officers and staff till the moment they discovered her corpse.

‘LBSL, police did nothing 48 hours after Bamise went missing’

According to Joel, some staff at the BRT Terminals at Oshodi, and LBSL headquarters in Ilupeju pointedly told the family that the missing sister had ‘gone to enjoy herself with a man’.

He said, “Many of us got to know of her disappearance on Sunday, February 27th. She had a lengthy conversation with a friend via WhatsApp voice notes. I was informed on Sunday evening after waiting for her throughout the day, we got scared and moved out to seek help.

“On Monday morning we went to the BRT Terminal Three at Oshodi. But the staff there didn’t take us seriously, they laughed at us. Some of the staff at the terminal made fun of Bamise’s disappearance. They were just telling us that she has gone to meet a man. We were heartbroken, but we have proof of their mockery because we captured all of them laughing at us in the video.

“We left there and immediately went to Akinpelu Police station in Oshodi. But even with the video evidence from Bamise, our cry for help was also brushed aside and treated with levity. They told us that they are not in charge of the vicinity where the crime occurred.

“I believed in the saying that ‘Police is your friend’. So we had thought that the officers there would have helped to contact the DPO in the vicinity to us in the search. But they did nothing and our cries were brushed aside.

“We then went to the LBSL head office at Ilupeju and they denied us entry and even threatened to arrest us. But when they saw the video evidence, they confirmed that the man in the video was one of their drivers.

“All these happened between 12noon and 2 pm. We got information that that driver, Mr. Andrew Nice of the bus 240257, actually came to work on that very Monday. But we suspect that the staff have told him what was happening, which was why he absconded.

“From Sunday to Tuesday morning no police has accepted to file our case. So for 48 hours, no police station answered us. The law says 24 hours. We were directed to go to Lekki, we went there and they told us to go back to Area F Ikeja. They were just  pushing us from pillar to post.”

Poor staff documentation

Fuelled by their quest to find Bamise, Joel said they continued to ask questions till the management of LBSL gave them attention.

“It was on Tuesday that the LBSL called us for a meeting and was telling us to calm down because they have confirmed that somebody went missing in their bus and that the driver was at large.

“LBSL said they went to get the driver with the address he gave them, but on getting there they were told that he packed out there since over a year ago. This exposed that LBSL doesn’t even have proper documentation of their staff.

“We then asked for the driver’s contact and his photo, it took them over six hours to release only his number, without his photos to us.

“After the meeting we went back to Akinpelu police station that rejected the case initially, to lodge our report on the driver. They promised us that the driver would be caught and we’ll get our sister back hale and hearty.

“That same day the DPO ordered the IPO in charge of the case to go get one of the driver’s guarantors. When we got there we didn’t meet the guarantor. We were told that the guarantor doesn’t live there. So we got his number and called the guarantor, and he said he doesn’t know anybody named Andrew Nice. However, he promised to appear at the police station the following morning.

“On Thursday we petitioned the commissioner for transportation, director of LAMATA ( Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority), MD LBSL, and the chairman of the House of Assembly on Transportation.

“Then on Friday, the case was moved to Panti, Yaba. We went there to give our statement. We then moved to LBSL to again meet the management. I went with Mrs. Oni the woman that was shouting and crying in the viral video. She was the person that trained Bamise, that was why people call her Mama Bamise.

“On that Friday we saw that the bus was conveying passengers. We called to see the MD but he told us he was not around and then referred us to one of the senior staff, but when we approached the gate, the security men there attacked us, saying that they won’t allow us into the premises.

“But we were all calm, myself and Mrs. Oni. But they kept mocking us to go search for Bamise elsewhere. So it got to a point, emotions took over and there was an altercation between ourselves and security. The MD was called and he promised that he would come to meet with us. But to my surprise he never did. He promised to call us back. But we didn’t hear from him.

“When we were leaving the premises, we saw about seven fully armed policemen coming there as we were leaving, but we remained calm, so they had no reason to lay ambush or attack us. So we were allowed to leave in peace.”

‘I couldn’t look at Bamise’s corpse twice’

“On Saturday we continued with our search. On Sunday we were at the family house holding a meeting when someone sent me a message that her body has been found.

“So I went with Mrs. Oni and Bamise’s eldest brother. We left the family meeting quietly without giving them the update because we couldn’t control the outburst of emotions if we broke the news. We then headed to Ebute Ero to see the corpse.

“When we got to the police station the officers there were nice enough and showed us the pictures. We saw it and confirmed that it was our Bamise. We couldn’t still announce it to the family because they kept calling and we were telling them that everything was in order. They kept praying even when we knew that it was already too late.

“The police led us to the morgue at the Yaba mainland hospital. When I got there my heart broke at how they dumped her body like a sack of dust bin. They brought her body out and I couldn’t look at her twice. Because she was mutilated beyond recognition.

“We wanted to manage the information, but before Monday, the news was all over the place,” Mr. Joel cried.

‘LBSL staffs called us mad people’

Also speaking, Titilayo Ayanwole, lamented the anguish Bamise suffered as her captors tortured and had sued her organs.

Titilayo said, “you can imagine the pain she felt. Bamise is the joy giver of the family, she’s the one that calms every bad situation. Now she is no more.

“After her friend gave us all the details of their conversation, we went to Akinpelu police station, the officer there after seeing all the videos and her voice recordings, the officer turned us down. They were unsympathetic.

“That BRT driver is not smart, he claimed that he was threatened. But after the armed men left, he comfortably drove the bus back to the terminal, he didn’t bother about the pains of the girl, as they were cutting her private part, rather he went home to his family. He claimed he was attacked, but he didn’t report to his employer at the terminal, to the police station, or even to his colleagues. He went home after the attack and still resumed work on Monday.

“At the BRT head office, one of their staff called me a madwoman. We have enough video evidence of when and how they abused us.

“And I must cry out now that nothing must happen to my family. Let them not come to kill us because we have all the evidence against the BRT officers,” Titilayo added.

Ayanwole’s family lawyer lists demands

Reiterating their call on the government to ensure that justice is served, Ayo Ademuluyi, a popular human rights lawyer, who has stepped in to pursue the case on behalf of the Ayanwole’s family, decried the alleged display of unprofessional conduct among some policemen, saying it shows that the government has refused to hear calls for the need to reform the police.

Ademiluyi listed out the family’s demands on both the state and federal government.

“We are worried, Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, plus the lawmakers are not bothered about the insecurity engulfing our state.

“We’re hereby calling for a thorough criminal investigation on this incident and all suspects arrested must be arraigned in court.

“We demand an autopsy of Bamise’s body. We are not ready for any hasty burial. Also, let the government launch a coroner’s inquest into the matter. Then the LBSL and other parties should be ready to face a civil suit from us.

“The lives of Lagosians should be valued. Because those that murdered Bamise has murdered sleep, so they should sleep no more,” Ademuluyi added.

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