Andrew Nice Ominikoron, the Lagos State Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) driver on trial for the r@pe and m*rder of a female passenger, Bamise Ayanwola, has denied the charges, instead accusing three other individuals of committing the crime.
Testifying in his defense on Thursday, October 17, Ominikoron, 47, appeared before Justice Sherifat Sonaike at the Lagos State High Court, located at Tafawa Balewa Square on Lagos Island. Led by his lawyer, Abayomi Omotubora, the defendant maintained that he neither r@ped nor k!lled 22-year-old Ayanwola, a fashion designer. He recounted the events of February 26, 2022, stating that he was on an afternoon shift that started at 1 p.m., with a route from Oshodi to Ajah.
He explained that after completing one round trip, he began another back to Ajah, by which time it was between 7 and 8 p.m. As he could not continue his shift, Ominikoron admitted to illegally picking up passengers while returning to Oshodi.
Ominikoron is facing charges related to r@pe, conspiracy, felony, sexual assault, and mrder, filed by the Lagos State Government. According to the prosecution, the crime occurred on February 26, 2022, around 7 p.m., near the Conservation Centre on the Lekki-Ajah Expressway. The state alleges that Ominikoron forcibly had sxual intercourse with Ayanwola before m*rdering her, violations of Sections 411, 223, 260, and 165 of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015.
However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges and claimed that three male passengers who boarded his bus after official working hours were the ones who r@ped Ayanwola and threw her from the vehicle.
At the resumed hearing of the case on Thursday, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr. Babajide Martins, told the court that the case had been stalled since November last year and then told the court that the business of the day was for the defence to open its case.
The judge therefore ordered the defence to open its case.
Ominikoron, who was led in his defence witness by his counsel, Abayomi Omotubora, told the court that he picked the late Bamishe at Chevron, and three male passengers at Agungi.
According to him, one of the male passengers was coming forward, and he thought it was to pay him, then the passenger threw something at his head and showed him a gun, asking him to cooperate.
The defendant explained that when they pick up passengers illegally, they usually tell them to sit at the back so that officials of the BRT services on monitoring would not see them in the bus and sanction the drivers.
He said he followed the instructions of the gunman who asked him to divert his route and told him to put his vehicle on neutral. The defendant further explained that the light inside the bus was on but it was the dim light since he was avoiding being caught for picking passengers.
He said,” The light that was on was enough for those in the bus to see, but wasn’t bright enough for those outside to see the bus.”
Omotubora then called for the audio recording of Bamishe, which was played in the open court. He asked Ominikoron if he was aware that the late Bamishe was recording or sending voice notes, and he said he wasn’t, that the first time he heard it was when it was played to him at the Panti Police Station after he had made his statement, but he didn’t understand it because of the language barrier.
The defendant told the court that he didn’t know the three men he picked up at Agungi as he had never seen them before and would not be able to identify them.
He said that in Panti, he was severely tortured and the police asked him to just agree with anything they said.
Ominikoron said, “I was brought out and questioned every 15 to 20 minutes and they continually took my statements.
“I could not write my statements due to the torture, so two to three people questioned me while the writer sat in front and wrote down my response.”
Omotuba then asked for Exhibits 10a, b, 11, and 12.
Exhibit 10 was one of his previous statements that was read. In the statement, he said she sat behind him, and he was telling her that he liked her, but later asked her to go to the back to avoid the LSBS officers from arresting him, and she went to the second to the last seat. He said this happened before he picked the three men.
Ominikoron said that at the Osborne area, one of the guys pointed a gun at him and diverted him. He added that when they stopped, Bamishe was screaming for help while she was being dragged but he couldn’t help because a gun was pointed at him.
Ominikoron said the men later got down from the bus, then he went to the back to look for Bamishe, but he couldn’t find her, so he went back to his seat and drove off until he packed his bus at the toll-gate/7-Up terminal.
He said he went home and was home throughout the next day, being Sunday.
He added that on his way to work on Monday, still in shock, he was called to get to Oshodi. He said on getting there, he heard that one of his passengers was missing.
Ominikoron told the court that he later called one of his friends, Mr Hope, and told him he had a problem with his landlord and in his office so he needed to discuss it with him. He said he went to Ogun State to meet his friend and told him he wanted to stay there for a while.
When asked if he slept with anyone on his bus, he said he didn’t do that and that the male passengers r@ped Bamishe and dragged her out.
He said he was shocked, so he couldn’t tell anyone what happened while explaining on the Monday after Bamishe’s disappearance.
“While still on my way to work, I was called to the head office in Oshodi to meet Mr Ola. On getting there, I was told not to drive out, but wait.
“Then some of my colleagues were now saying that I did ‘Korokpe’ (illegally picking passengers), after saying I didn’t do that, they now said one of my passengers is missing.
“After hearing this, I now found a way to leave the depot because I was afraid that the rumour had got to the office and I remembered that my MD had continually told us that he could not use N1m to chase someone even if it was N100. So, I ran away because picking people illegally is equal to stealing,” he said.
When asked if he knew a certain MaryJane (anothyer alleged victim) or r@ped her on November 25, 2021, he said he knew her but didn’t r@pe her. He said though they were in a relationship, he had never been intimate with her. He claimed that the last time they met, he sent her N3,000 for her sick child and started avoiding her because she was always demanding money from him anytime they met.
“After giving her the money on that day, I avoided her and didn’t pick up her calls. So, I don’t understand nor know where she got her ideas from,” he said.
He was also asked if he attempted to r@pe Doctor (name withheld) and exchanged phone numbers on December 29, 2021, in Ikorodu. He denied knowing her nor going to Ikorodu on that day.
Before adjourning at the request of his counsel for further examination-in-chief of the defendant till Monday, October 21, Justice Sonaike strongly expressed displeasure at the slow pace of the case.
The court said the frequent adjournments in the trial have been at the instance of the defence counsel and that the last hearing was on February 15, 2024.
The Director of Public Prosecutions at the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, Babajide Martins, in his response to Mr Omotubora’s request for adjournment, said he had received a query by the Attorney General of the state over the case, as the Prosecution had closed its case since November 2023.
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