Shoyemi on Friday told a Lagos State High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), that the death of Bamise who was allegedly murdered by the driver of a bus belonging to the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) scheme, Lagos State was caused by a blunt force trauma.
A pathologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Prof Sunday Shoyemi, has confirmed that 22-year-old Oluwabamise Ayanwola, was murdered.
Shoyemi on Friday told a Lagos State High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), that the death of Bamise who was allegedly murdered by the driver of a bus belonging to the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) scheme, Lagos State was caused by a blunt force trauma.
Shoyemi, who appeared as the ninth and last prosecuting witness while giving evidence before Justice Sherifat Sonaike, said that the 22-year-old fashion designer, in the light of his findings, died as a result of severe craniocerebral injury following a blunt force trauma, The Nation reports.
SaharaReporters had reported that the driver of the BRT bus, Andrew Nice Ominnikoron, is facing five-count charges bordering on felony, sexual assault, rape, conspiracy, and murder before Justice Sherifat Sonaike, following Bamise’s death.
Led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution, Dr. Babajide Martins, Shoyemi explained to the court how the autopsy was conducted, saying that Bamise’s body had no clothing but a silver-coloured ring was found on her middle finger.
The Pathologist said, “I observed a bruise on the left side of her forehead, another on the right temple just above her ear, and a large bruise on the back of her skull. In addition, there was a bruise on the elbow region.”
He said that all the findings were all on the external appearance of the deceased while adding that all the observations were before when the autopsy was conducted.
Explaining further, Shoyemi said that “Upon opening up, there’s what we call Subdural hematoma, which means bleeding into the soft tissue covering the skull or bleeding into the brain. This was noticed on the frontal area as well as the back of the skull. Again, there was a fracture of the temporal bone, meaning the bone above the ear.
“I checked for deep bruising, meaning ‘the bruises we will not be able to see under the skin unless it is removed. These deep bruises were found on both lower lips. The organs were essentially normal except the right ovary which has a cyst (Fluid Collection).”
He said that this was an incidental finding which has nothing to do with death, but further told the court that, “Tiny samples were taken from all the organs and were sent to the Laboratories. The samples were looked at under the microscope and no remarkable findings were seen.
“I specifically took samples of the breast and uterus to check for pregnancy but nothing was found. In the light of both the external and internal findings, death was ascribed to severe craniocerebral injury, following a blunt force trauma.”
Shoyemi also told the court that during the examination, he took samples from the deceased for identification, adding that another sample was taken for toxicology, which has also been sent to the Lagos State DNA forensic Lab.
He further clarified that the interim report had been given to the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), CSP Oseni, the head of homicide, State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, who was also present during the autopsy and gave the full report to the DPP.
During cross-examination by the defence counsel, Abayomi Omotubora, Shoyemi confirmed to the court that the IPO provided all the information about the deceased before the autopsy was conducted, but said that the information provided by the IPO does not form the basis of the cause of Bamise’s death.
After the cross-examination, the defence counsel called the attention of the court to a pending application dated September 21, 2023, to recall some of the prosecuting witnesses.
“We have a pending application to recall some of the Prosecution witnesses for the purpose of further cross-examination by the defence,” Omotubora said.
But in response to the defence, the Director of Public Prosecution, Martins opposed the application to recall the witnesses.
After listening to the argument of both counsels, Justice Sonaike adjourned the matter to November 2, 2023, for the continuation of the trial.