Missing Bamise was going to brother’s house on surprise visit – Sister
Devastated family members lament mysterious disappearance
Say police have arrested guarantors of bus driver
The family of Oluwabamise Ayanwola, the 22-year-old female fashion designer whose whereabouts became unknown after she boarded a Lagos State Government owned BRT bus from Chevron Estate in Ajah on her way to Oshodi on February 26, is in deep sorrow over the incident.
In a chat with our correspondent yesterday, Bamise’s sibling, Elizabeth, lamented alleged abduction of her sister by the driver of the bus, identified as Nice Andrew Omininikoron.
Although the operators of the bus said they were awaiting the outcome of police investigation into the matter, the driver, The Nation learnt, was still at large.
Elizabeth told our correspondent yesterday that her missing sister was heading to the brother’s house at Ikotun to stay with the wife who was in ‘labour’.
She reportedly boarded the bus with number 240257 at 7:30pm and became suspicious when the driver told her to sit at one of the back seats.
Bamise’s last movement
Narrating her sister’s last movement, Elizabeth said: “On Saturday evening (February 26), my sister closed at 7 pm. She normally had breaks on Sundays. She works at Ajah as a fashion designer and normally works from Monday to Saturday.
“So when she closed on Saturday (February 26), she wanted to go to my brother’s house because his wife was in labour. My brother stays at Ikotun (a Lagos suburb).
“My missing sister’s house is in Ogun State, Ota precisely. She stays with our aunt who is the first born.
“She called my brother three days before then that she would be coming but she did not know when. On the day she left Ajah, she wanted to surprise my brother by not telling him that she was already on her way.
“She boarded a bus from Chevron Bus Stop. When she entered the BRT bus, it was only her, and there was no light inside the bus.
“She had felt safe inside the BRT bus since it is a popular state bus, but she wondered why it was only her that was in the bus and the driver didn’t pick any other passenger.
“She was even conversing with a colleague of hers because she felt unsafe. She was sending voice notes to her friend. Her friend advised her to drop since the driver didn’t pick up any other passenger.
“Before entering, she informed her friend that the driver was passing some remarks at her but she did n’t answer.
“So later on, the driver later picked up three people on the road: two men and a lady. Then she now felt calm.
“Before the driver picked the three other persons who had disguised as passengers, she made several videos of the bus and the driver and sent it to her friend. The video captured the bus number. It helped us in tracking the bus.
“Her phone was not low. It is a new phone she just bought three weeks ago. Her friend chatted with her several times, but she didn’t reply.
“She tried calling her via normal call a few minutes to 8 pm, but she didn’t pick up.
“Around 7:32 pm, she posted ‘God, it is your protection I need’ on her Whatsapp status.
“I saw the status but I didn’t see it on time because I was not online.
“After repeated calls, her friend said she heard some voices underneath trying to struggle to get the phone from her.”
Distraught mother
As would be expected, Bamise’s mother of 10 — five boys and five girls — has been seriously disturbed since her daughter went missing. In one of the viral videos seen by The Nation, the distraught mother was seen wailing in front of a bus numbered 240257, at one of the terminals of LBSL, said to be the bus Bamise had boarded.
“This is the vehicle that Bamise boarded. It has been parked. They say they cannot find the driver. Bamise boarded the vehicle at Ajah and said she was going to Oshodi. “The vehicle got to its destination but the child did not get home. We can’t find her. They must find Bamise for me. I didn’t tell her to go to Lagos to die.”
‘How her friend alerted us about her plight’
Asked how the family learnt about Bamise’s plight, Elizabeth said: “It was her friend who was chatting with her that alerted us.