Lagos State High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square has sentenced Andrew Nice Ominikoron, a driver of Lagos bus rapid transit (BRT), to death by hanging for killing Bamise Ayanwola, a 22-year-old fashion designer.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The Lagos State High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square has sentenced Andrew Nice Ominikoron, a driver of Lagos bus rapid transit (BRT), to death by hanging for killing Bamise Ayanwola, a 22-year-old fashion designer.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Sherifat Sonaike held that the prosecution successfully proved its case, relying on the doctrine of “last seen” and the victim’s dying declaration to establish Ominikoron’s guilt.
Ominikoron was arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit felony, rape, murder, and sexual assault.
Bamise was last seen on February 26, 2022, after boarding a BRT bus driven by Ominikoron at the Ajah axis of Lagos. Her disappearance sparked public outrage and a widespread search.
Nine days later, her lifeless body was found on Carter Bridge in Lagos Island.
READ ALSO:
BRT driver arraigned for the murder, rape and tampering with body of Bamise
Ominikoron had, pleaded not guilty to all charges. He had however admitted to being the driver of the BRT vehicle which Bamise boarded on a fateful night she was brutally murdered.
Bamise family members and friends had raised the alarm that she was missing after she boarded a BRT bus driven by Nice at the Ajah axis of the state on February 26.
The BRT driver was later arrested by officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) at Ogun state after he fled Lagos.
Among the charges preferred against the driver were:
“That you Andrew Nice Ominnikoron ‘M’ and others still at large, on the 26 day of February 2022 at about 2000hrs, along Ajah – Oshodi Expressway Lagos, in the Lagos State Magisterial District, whilst on duty as a BRT driver within the metropolis with BRT bus code number 257 did, forcefully had sexual intercourse with Late Ayanwole Oluwabamise ‘F’ Aged 22yrs (Now Deceased) and thereafter, pushed her out of the moving BRT Bus, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 260 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015,” the charge sheet reads in part.
“That you Andrew Nice Ominnikoron ‘M’ and others still at large, on the 26th day of February 2022 at about 2000hrs, along Ajah – Oshodi Expressway Lagos, in the Lagos State Magisterial District, whilst on duty as a BRT driver within the metropolis with BRT bus code number 257 did, improperly or indecently interferes with the corpse of Late Ayanwole Oluwabamise ‘F’ by dumping the deceased along the express concrete pavement, and thereby, committed an offence punishable under Section 165 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.”
