By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Titilayo Ayanwole, the elder sister of 22-year-old Bamise Ayanwole, who went missing after boarding a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and later found dead has revealed how Ayanwole died in pain.
Titilayo, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos, on Tuesday, revealed that the private part of Ayanwole was cut while she was still alive.
Titilayo, who was accompanied by other family members and their lead counsel, Barrister Ayo Ademiluyi, lamented that the death of Bamise, describing her death as traumatic to her and their aged parents because of the nature of her gruesome murder and alleged complicity of the BRT.
Speaking on how the family got to know of Bamise’s death, Titilayo said efforts to locate the whereabouts of her younger sister met a brick wall initially as the police station they reported the case did not act swiftly.
“My mind is heavy because it took a long time, weeks for the Police to locate the driver that conveyed Bamise. All the efforts we made at the police station and at the BRT bus office was abortive as they did not believe us,” she said.
Fighting back tears, Titilayo said: “Bamise was not just killed, she suffered hell.”
She, subsequently, called on the Lagos State Government and Federal Government to ensure justice for her late sister.
“Governor Sanwo-Olu, I am challenging you. My family is not wealthy, we are not influential but we have God. We work hard and struggle to survive. We are content with what we have. We are Christians to the core. Why has our last born been used for the things of the world? This is a money ritual case.
“She died in pain after they cut her private parts. They didn’t kill her before cutting her private parts. If you are a lover of wrestling, there is what they call hell in the cell. That is what my sister went through before her last breath on earth.
“My mum is 74, dad 84. In the morning time, they didn’t mourn us; afternoon, they never lost any child. But at night, they made my parents put their two hands on their heads and mourn their last born.
“They suffered my parents. This girl was murdered. Why did they want us to suffer?” Titilayo queried
The lead counsel for the family, Ademiluyi, said that the murder of Bamise called for justice because of the way the Police have handled the matter.
He noted that the family would take legal action against the Lagos Bus Services Limited (LBSL) operators of the BRT bus and the state government if their demands were not met.
Bamise, who closed from work around 7pm on February 26, was on her way to visit her brother, Pelumi, when she boarded the BRT vehicle around Chevron Bus-stop, in Lekki area of the state.
The driver of the vehicle, Omininikoron Andrew Nice, was said to be conveying the victim to a destination in Oshodi when Oluwabamise observed that he refused to pick other passengers on the road.
She reportedly contacted one of her colleagues at work, Felicia Omolara, to inform her about her suspicion and she was advised to disembark from the bus at Iyana Oworo bus stop.
Omolara, however, noted that when her friend was no longer responding to her chats on WhatsApp, she called her phone number, and when she picked the call, a man was heard arguing with Bamise.
