COMMUTERS in Lagos, on Tuesday had a tough time going to work early in the morning and returning back home from work in the evening as BRT buses suspended bus operations across the state over possible attacks from angry youths following the death of one Miss Oluwabamise Ayanwole on Monday. 

When Nigerian Tribune visited the Abule-Egba park of the BRT buses on Tuesday morning, the park which runs dedicated trips from Abule-Egba to Oshodi and CMS/Marina was a shadow of itself.

Many BRT buses were seen parked inside the garage without any staff of the bus companies seen around. Many passengers who had thronged the park were leaving disappointed, looking for alternative means of getting to their workplaces.

Also, at the Obalende park of the BRT station, many buses were seen parked without drivers inside them around 4pm on Tuesday.

When our correspondent approached a lady selling nose masks near the BRT park in Obalende, she explained that the BRT buses didn’t work because of the fear that angry Lagosians might attack and vandalise the buses over the death of Miss Oluwabamise Ayanwole.

According to the lady who simply identified herself as Miss Funmi, “The BRT buses already told us yesterday (Monday) evening that they might not work today (Tuesday). You know a BRT bus driver was connected to the death of Miss Oluwabamise Ayanwole, so the operators decided to suspend operations out of fear that what happened during the EndSARS protest where many BRT buses were vandalised, could recur.”

A cross section of passengers also lamented the lack of communication from the BRT operators to passengers ahead of the suspension of bus trips on Tuesday.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, Mrs. Folake Akinla, a banker who works with one of the commercial banks in Marina lamented about the increased amount of money she had to spend to get to work through the commercial buses that ply the island.

She stated: “They (BRT operators) could have informed passengers on Monday that they won’t work on Tuesday so that everybody would have arranged alternative transport means to their place of work.

“I still used the BRT on Monday and didn’t hear anything from the workers or at their terminal in TBS. When contacted, the spokesman for the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Mr. Kolawole Ojelabi, declined to comment on the issue.”

Meanwhile, the Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the circumstances surrounding the alleged disappearance and death of a 22-year-old lady, Miss Oluwabamishe Ayanwole, while in transit on a BRT bus would be fully unravelled, stressing that stiff punishment awaits anyone found culpable in what he described as a “criminal and dastardly act.”

He maintained that the state government remained determined to pursue the matter transparently and to a logical conclusion, but cautioned those making an attempt to twist the issue with unfounded insinuation and conjectures to desist from making comments that may preempt the outcome of investigation being conducted by security agencies.

Sanwo-Olu spoke to reporters during an event held on Tuesday at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena in Onikan to commemorate International Women’s Day.

He said: “There is an investigation that is currently going on and because it is a criminal matter, only the police are empowered constitutionally to fully unravel all of the events that happened, which led to the death of the lady.

“The development has been condemned at the highest level of the government. I personally stand to condemn it and offer condolences to the family of our citizen, Oluwabamishe.

“What we are concerned about is to ensure that we transparently get to the root of the matter. That is why the police and the Department of State Service (DSS) picked up the driver, who ran to another state, where he was arrested. The full wrath of the law will be applied on whoever is found wanting in this matter. And we will ensure the incident does not repeat itself.”

In another development, the family of late Miss Oluwabamishe Ayanwole staged a peaceful protest to the Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday. Leading the protesters, the lead counsel for the family, Mr Ayo Ademiluyi, said the protest was to demand justice and autopsy for the deceased.

Ademiluyi told the lawmakers that the family was at the assembly to register their demand to the house and also demand that the Lagos State government should institute an inquest into the death of Bamise.

“We are demanding that the Chief Pathologist of the state, Prof. John Obafunwa, should conduct a forensic autopsy on the deceased. The family also wants the machinery of justice to be moved to the autopsy. We want Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to address a state broadcast, assuring residents of safety,” he said.

Addressing the protesters, Speaker of the house, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, who led other lawmakers to condole with the family, assured them that the assembly would ensure the case was not swept under the carpet, describing the death of the deceased as an unfortunate incident that should not have happened.

The speaker noted that since the driver of the BRT bus had been arrested, calling for the arrest of the General Manager of the BRT was unnecessary because the police must have justification to make any arrest. Obasa said the police cannot conclude that the driver was culpable until investigations are concluded.

Also, the First Lady of Lagos State, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, has disclosed that plans are ongoing to ensure the installation of Close Circuit Television cameras in all Bus Rapid Buses (BRT) in the state.

Ibijoke made this disclosure during the protest against the rejection of the gender equality bill by the National Assembly on Tuesday morning in Lagos.

Describing the death of Oluwabamise as devastating, shocking and a big slap on the faces of women all over the country, she assured that efforts would be intensified to ensure the protection of passengers and drivers.

Source