The family of the late fashion designer, Bamise Ayanwola, and the human rights community heaved a sigh of relief on Friday when the Lagos State High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square convicted and sentenced to death by hanging a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) driver, Andrew Ominikoron, for the murder of the 22-year-old.
While delivering her judgment which 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
“For the death of Oluwabamise Ayanwola, you will be hanged by the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy upon you,” Justice Sonaike said.
Although there was no eyewitness 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.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.
