An unknown driver working with Lagos Bus services Limited is being charged with the alleged abduction of 21-year-old Lagos based fashion designer.
The lady whose name has been given as Bamise Ayanwole was said to be missing after she boarded a LBSL bus popularly known as Blue BRT at Chevron area of Lekki on her way to Oshodi on February 25, 2022.
The family of a 21-year-old fashion designer, Bamise Ayanwole, has raised the alarm over her alleged abduction by a driver of the Lagos Bus Services Limited.
It was gathered that the fashion designer boarded the bus at 7:30 pm but felt uncomfortable when the driver asked her to take a sit at the back seat.
Still feeling uncomfortable, Bamise sent out voice notes and video clips to express her displeasure to one of her friends on WhatsApp.
The friend who spoke on condition of anonymity explained what transpired thereafter in the bus as explained to her by Bamise
“On her way home, the driver picked up two men and one woman. This made her calm down a bit. Then she told us she would alight at Oworonshoki. We called her and noticed something was unusual about the way she was talking. We tried to reach out to her again but her phone was unreachable; then we waited a bit, thinking it was probably (due to a) low battery, only for her parents to contact us on Sunday that Bamise wasn’t home yet and since then we have been at the Oshodi BRT Terminal 3. We were told to sit and wait for the driver to come. The driver did not show up,” the source added.
In the voice notes and WhatsApp messages obtained from her friend’s phone, Bamise was heard saying that after being picked by the driver ,the BRT hasn’t picked any other passenger.
Bamise was said to have made a short video showing an unclear image of a driver and what looked like the vehicle number plate.
Bamise’s mum was seen in a viral video pointing to a blue BRT bus claiming it was the same bus her daughter had boarded on the fateful day.
“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 coming to Oshodi. The vehicle got to its destination but the child did get home. We can’t find her. They must find Bamise for me. I didn’t tell her to go to Lagos to die,” she said
Upon interrogation, Bamise’s elder brothet said he sensed a case of kidnapping because the driver of the bus is now at large.
“From my little investigation, I discovered that the company does not have proper documentation of their drivers. We learnt that the driver moved from where he claimed to be living over a year ago and his guarantor doesn’t live where he claimed to be living. The company is trying to push us aside and keep it away from the press. Our parents are aware but they aged, so we had to convince them that all is well. But we have been having sleepless nights.”
However, the police said they were investigating a case of a missing person, adding that the suspect’s guarantor had been arrested.
The Public Affairs Officer of the Lagos Bus Services Limited, Afolabi Olawale, said the company would await the outcome of the police investigation before making its position known.