She communicated her concern to a friend all through the journey until minutes later when she could no longer be reached on the phone.
James Joel, a family member of Oluwabamise Ayanwole, 22-year-old lady, who was declared missing on February 26, 2022, after boarding a Bus Rapid Transit vehicle from the Ajah area of Lagos to Oshodi and whose body was later found by the police, has said the police treated the young woman’s case with levity.
Joel, who spoke during a press briefing on Tuesday, said Bamise's sister had gone to the police station on Sunday, February 27 to file a missing person's case but was brushed aside by police officers on duty.
He said, “On Sunday, my sister here took it upon herself, after waiting for her younger sister, she went to the police station to report, when she did, even with the video evidence, she was brushed aside. They (police officers) treated it with levity. This is a situation that comes with concrete evidence.
“On Monday, some members of the family headed for BRT bus terminal 3, while they were there, they gave reasons why they should be attended to but the people there laughed it off, the family proceeded to Mosafejo Police Station in Oshodi but the officers said they are not in charge of the vicinity that the incident happened around Lekki which meant they didn't have anything to do with the case. The police brushed aside the case, they treated it with levity.
“Meanwhile, at the junction, there were some staff members at the BRT Terminal 3 who said a lot of things like; maybe the girl went to meet a man, we have it in video. The family further headed for the head office at Ilupeju, they were threatened but later when the staff there saw the video and bus number, and they said they were going to investigate.
“I learnt that during this period, the driver reported at work but was possibly tipped off and fled; we went to the Terminal 3 again by Tuesday and were redirected to their office but as of that time, no police station had accepted the case since Sunday (48 hours). The law said 24 hours; the police kept pushing the family from pillar to post.”
Oluwabamise went missing after boarding the BRT with number 240257 heading for Oshodi at about 7:30pm that fateful day and became suspicious when the driver of the bus told her to sit at the back despite being the only one in the vehicle.
She communicated her concern to a friend all through the journey until minutes later when she could no longer be reached on the phone.
“Around 7:32pm, she posted “God, it is your protection I need” on her WhatsApp status.
“After repeated calls, her friend said she heard some voices underneath trying to struggle to get the phone from her,” a sister of the victim, Elizabeth, revealed.
Shortly after her body was found on Monday, the police in Lagos revealed that the driver of the BRT vehicle, Nice Andrew Omininikoron, who went into hiding immediately after the incident, had been arrested.
The spokesperson for the police in Lagos, Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed the arrest, adding that more details into the matter would be provided later.