- Court: It Was Proven Beyond Reasonable Doubt That Defendant Committed The Offence
- Nigerians Call For Quick Judgement Delivery In Future Cases
Three years after Bamishe Ayanwola was gruesomely murdered, the Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square has convicted and sentenced to death by hanging, a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) driver, Andrew Ominikoron for the crime.
The Matrix Newspaper reports that 22-year-old victim named Bamishe was abducted after boarding a BRT bus in Lagos, Nigeria, on February 26, 2022.
She was on her way to visit her elder brother’s family and sent voice notes to her friend revealing her concerns about the bus driver and other male passengers.
Her disappearance sparked public outrage, and nine days later, her lifeless body was discovered naked near the Carter Bridge on Lagos Island.
READ ALSO: Lagos BRT Accident Leaves Many Injured
The BRT driver, Andrew Ominikoron, was arrested and charged with conspiracy, rape, murder, and sexual assault. He initially confessed to raping and abandoning her but later claimed his bus was hijacked by armed robbers who kidnapped Bamise.
However, in a judgment that lasted over two and half hours, Justice Serifat Sonaike held that the prosecution, the Lagos State Government, successfully proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the offence.
The judge held, “that for the death of Oluwabamise Ayanwola, you will be hanged by the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy upon you.”
Although there was no eye witness account of the incident, the court relied on a series of circumstantial evidence, the evidence of the pathologist, and the dying declaration of the victim all of which the judge held pointed solely to the defendant as the last person to see her before her death on February 26, 2022.
The court also convicted the defendant for the rape of a 29-year-old lady, Nneka Maryjane Ozezulu, on November 25, 2021.
READ ALSO: Lagos intends to purchase 2,050 more BRT buses to improve mobility.
The court noted that the defendant had a history of raping female passengers in his BRT bus as submitted by the extrajudicial statements of two victims of his crime – the testimony of Ozezulu, and the terrifying voice note sent out by Bamise just before she died.
The court said the voice note showed that Bamise did not consent to sexual intercourse with the defendant.
The court, however, held that medical reports neither showed that the late Bamise was penetrated nor was any semen found in her.
This, it said, meant that the action of rape was not concluded or that it failed.
The court, therefore, discharged the defendant on the offence of rape of the late Bamise but found him guilty for the lesser offence of attempted rape which was successfully proved by the prosecution.
The court also discharged the defendant on the offence of conspiracy insisting that the prosecution had not proved the same.
The prosecution, led by the Director of Public Prosecution in Lagos, Dr Babajide Martins, had asked the court to apply the maximum sentence while the defence counsel, Abayomi Omotubora, pleaded in his allocutus that the judge should temper justice with mercy.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have called for swift prosecution of future cases to serve as a deterrent to others.
Many on the social media was concerned that the case dragged on for too long and that they have almost forgotten about the case.
According to Omolaja Lateef, he is lost as to why cases last too long in the courts.
“Why Nigeria judges always delayed judgement this far? I almost forgot about this case, make your judgement in time please” he wrote.
On his part, Awaji-ikeke Awaji opined that despite the longevity of time it took to get justice, it was only delayed but not denied.
“Since 2022… Thank God this time justice is only delayed but not denied… at least other abusers would take caution” he wrote.
