A Lagos State High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square has sentenced BRT driver Andrew Ominikoron to death by hanging for the murder of 22-year-old fashion designer, Bamise Ayanwola.
The judgment was delivered on Friday by Justice Sherifat Sonaike after a lengthy trial.
In a session that lasted over two and a half hours, Justice Sonaike ruled that the prosecution, led by the Lagos State Government, had successfully proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Delivering the sentence, the judge declared, “that for the death of Oluwabamise Ayanwola, you will be hanged by the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy upon you.”
In addition to the death sentence, the judge sentenced Ominikoron to life imprisonment for rape charge.
Apart from Bamishe, who was raped by the driver, the court said he also raped two other women.
The women were named as Mary-Jane Odezulu and Oyinyechi.
Ominikoron was arrested in 2022 after Bamise went missing following a ride she boarded on a BRT bus he was driving. Her body was later found dumped on Carter Bridge in Lagos Island, sparking public outrage and protests.
Ayanwola boarded a BRT bus driven by Ominikoron on February 26, 2022, in the Ajah area of Lagos. That was the last time she was seen alive. Her body was later found dumped on Carter Bridge nine days after she went missing.
During the trial, the prosecution called several witnesses, including Sunday Shoyemi, a pathologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), who confirmed that Ayanwola died as a result of severe craniocerebral injury caused by blunt force trauma.
“I observed a bruise on the left side of her forehead, another on the right temple just above her ear, and a large bruise on the back of her skull. In addition, there was a bruise on the elbow region,” Shoyemi testified on October 20, 2023.
“Upon opening up, there’s what we call Subdural hematoma, which means bleeding into the soft tissue covering the skull or bleeding into the brain. This was noticed on the frontal area as well as the back of the skull. Again, there was a fracture of the temporal bone, meaning the bone above the ear.
“I checked for deep bruising, meaning ‘the bruises we will not be able to see under the skin unless it is removed.’ These deep bruises were found on both lower lips. The organs were essentially normal except the right ovary which has a cyst (fluid collection).
“Tiny samples were taken from all the organs and were sent to the laboratories. The samples were looked at under the microscope and no remarkable findings were seen.
“I specifically took samples of the breast and uterus to check for pregnancy but nothing was found. In the light of both the external and internal findings, death was ascribed to severe craniocerebral injury, following a blunt force trauma,” he concluded.
57-year-old Ominikoron was first arraigned on five counts of rape, conspiracy to commit murder and murder.
The Lagos State government accused the BRT driver of conspiring with some individuals to rape and murder 22-year-old Bamise on February 26, 2022.
According to the prosecution, at about 7pm, Bamise, a seamstress, was raped and stabbed to death along the Lekki-Ajah road towards Carter Bridge.
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