It was painful to follow the story of AYANWOLE BAMISE on twitter by @Mercy_McQuin these past few days when she was missing, and then hours following the discovery of her body, with some reports stating that some of her body parts were missing. The discovery of her body was quickly filled with that of the arrest of the driver, whose account sounds very ridiculous to me, even though there's always a place for the benefit of doubt. What is core is that in Lagos presently, security is at its lowest ebb, and the fact that the most frequent mode has been the transport system is the most distressing, as the perpetrators of crime by this means will always find cannon fodder.
Gone are the days when one read about such issues, or heard of it in news bulletins, but we are now starting to know people that have been affected directly. One of our admin staff at work replaces his phone annually, sometimes twice a year, because its either stolen, lost or mugged in the bus, tricycle or while walking. The last time was atop a motorbike taxi, where he got ridden to an uncompleted building and dispossessed of all he had on him. We allowed a female staff to come in an hour later than every other person in the morning because she was also mugged in a bus, and dispossessed as well. Most recently, a female colleague was relieved of her iPhone and told to alight from the minibus popularly called kórópe in Lagos, as the driver said he wasn't going in her direction anymore. A well known trick between criminally minded bus drivers and their conductors, these days. I'm very sure you will have your own experiences, personal, or of people close to you, but I hope not, the kind in this Bamise's sad situation.
Some people commenting online were wondering how the BRT Buses hitherto considered to be safe turned out to have such a horrific story come to be about it, but I remember that some time ago, it was reported that some passengers inside a BRT bus were robbed at gunpoint. So the potential, apart from the actuality has always been there. Sadly, these crimes now happen at any time of the day, unlike when it was thought to be at the extreme times of day, for which I stopped leaving home every morning until I see the first glimmer of light, and limited my late night outings to only when necessary. Like my colleague who was recently at the receiving end of their activities, many Lagosians have opted to getting their own cars, despite the heavy traffic occasioned by the number of vehicles on very few motorable roads in Lagos, owing to the security situation, over and above any other reason one may site.
Bamise
boarded the BRT bus outside of the park, from Chevron Bus Stop in Ajah, for her destination in Oshodi, at just around 7pm in the evening. How late was that? She did suspect that something was amiss when the driver had the light of the bus off the whole time she was there, and called her friend on WhatsApp, exchanging voice notes and videos with her, to apprise her of developments till she couldn't anymore. It doesn't appear that the driver remembered that when he was giving the interview that's online now,
where he mentioned nothing of the likes, even though like Bamise had revealed in her voice note, that three men and a woman later joined them, and that he, at gunpoint followed their instructions to divert from the course of the journey, to Carter Bridge, where he said he thought they didn't go with her because he saw her struggling with the men while holding on to a pole in the bus, and they alighted before he zoomed off . He conveniently forgot to say anything about turning off the light in the bus, even before he picked the so called passengers that he alleged were the killers of Bamise.
He witnessed all these, according to him but failed to go to any police station to report, so that even the so called ordinarily unempathic and unsympathetic Nigerian police can do the little they can, or in the least, even raise awareness about the situation, but rather he drove the bus to the terminal and parked it there as he would on a good day, then disappeared, until he was apprehended yesterday. I can point to no action of his that suggests that he's innocent of the the crime, but what do I know. I can only hope that the arm of the law catches up with the perpetrators of this crime, which I hate to think may be futile considering the levity with which the case had been treated, and would have remained so, had the late Bamise not had people who consistently and relentlessly pursued her matter, to the best of their ability online, and on ground, enough to get the attention of the authorities and to keep them in their toes.
A few weeks back I called up family in the North to ask how they were doing, and how concerned I was about their safety, and one of them actually laughed telling me that they always have me in their prayers because of the kind of things they hear happening in Lagos leaving them scared for me. I couldn't even counter the thought because after thinking about it, I observed the truism in their concern. Sadly, this is the reality of our time, that people in the North, with all the Boko Haram, ISWAP, kidnappers, marauding herdsmen, bandits, and the likes, think Lagos more unsafe than their locations.
The role twitter has been playing in Nigeria, in solving crime must be emphasised at this point, unfortunately until recently the government felt it trite to have that platform suspended, leaving me wondering how many other crimes occurred within that period of suspension that got swept under the carpet because there was no where to make the subject or topic of missing persons trend. It is often said that crime thrives when the punishment is less than the incentive, which is unfortunately where Nigeria is presently. The Nigerian Police, and other government agencies, especially those tasked with overseeing the environment simply evacuate dead bodies lying on the street without asking salient and germaine questions, like they are the disposal arm (cleaners) of killers and murderers, including ritualists, after harvesting the organs they need from the dead.
The rise of ritual killings in recent times is testament to the decadence in our society. A society that lays emphasis only on riches and wealth, where the wealthy have a say, and the poor foolish, to the detriment of morality and justice. Even children don't want to grow anymore before having and talking about money. Money, and wealth for which no question is asked, just get it. All of the motivational speaking geared towards one aim, money. Sadly, the wealthy can't tell you how they made it, and you can't see or follow their rise in life or business, the way you can track the wealth of the likes of Bill Gates, Elon Musk and the likes. People just wake up one morning, and they are rich, and when you ask they say "Na God", while flaunting the wealth at any given opportunity. So, when boys are told they have to bring this or that part of a human, or even a whole human being for sacrifice to be wealthy, they don't think twice or take a day to think about it before jumping on the so called opportunity.
But our society is what it is, and we must still go around in search of daily bread, attend functions and the likes, visit family, so what to do? Safety precautions have become more than a necessity for now, as that person you haven't seen before (or the one you know even), around you could just be planning to harm you, hence it has become pertinent that we make that a subject of discussion daily, as those whom the government has saddled with the responsibility to protect us seem to be shirking that responsibility. It is sad to note that Bamise took most of the measures she could possibly have, in fact had it not been that she did all that she, maybe she'd have become a mere statistic in the growing number of missing persons, and unclaimed bodies in morgues allover Lagos today. We shouldn't be discouraged though, teaching not just girls, but everyone safety tips, including videos, music and movies about it (rather than more of the ritual and gangster movies) should be paramount, and will go a long way in helping us reduce these sad incidences, while the police should for once be more proactive in combating crime and criminality, with a justice system that must be seen and perceived to be doing, and not perverting the cause of justice.
'kovich
PICTURE CREDIT:
- https://guardian.ng