Tobias Sylvester
A medical doctor, Onyinyechi Victoria Anoke has also narrated her encounter with the driver of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicle, Andrew Nice who was recently arrested by the police over the death of a 22-year-old fashion designer, Bamise Ayanwole.
KanyiDaily had reported how Bamise went missing after she boarded a BRT bus with number 240257 from Chevron Estate in Ajah, which was going to Oshodi at about 7 p.m on Saturday, February 26.
During the journey, the fashion designer was said to have contacted one of her colleagues at work, Felicia Omolara, to inform her that she was feeling uneasy about the conduct of the driver.
Bamise also sent a video to her friend showing how dark it was in the bus and said, “There are three men and one woman in the bus. The woman is sitting at the back. That’s the number of the bus in case. Please pray for me.’’
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Adekunle Ajisebutu, confirmed on Monday that Bamise’s corpse was found on Carter bridge at Ogogoro community, Lagos Island.
Ajisebutu stated that the bus driver, who had been on the run when the news broke, was arrested by officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Ogun state.
While being paraded by the police, the 47-year-old driver denied abducting Bamise, claiming they were attacked by three gunmen who boarded the bus with the now-deceased lady during the trip.
However, a video captured after he was arrested showed the moment Andrew was confessing to having carnal knowledge of Bamise before she threw herself out of the moving bus because of the “dirty acts” he had done.
On Friday, another female passenger, who boarded the BRT bus operated by Andrew Nice on November 25, 2021, had also alleged that he raped her and sent N3,000 to her bank account — money he said was meant to buy painkillers.
Onyinyechi Anoke Narrates Encounter With Andrew Nice
Anoke, who is now the third accuser, has narrated how she escaped an alleged attempted raped by Andrew Nice during a one-week visit to Lagos on December 29, 2021.
In a Facebook post published on Wednesday, the medical doctor, who is in her late 20s, said she was returning from a friend’s house on the day she had an encounter with the BRT driver.
She wrote: “On Wednesday, the 29th of December 2021, while my 1wk visit to Lagos was coming to an end, I paid a visit to my friend Nurse Amaka Modester whom I’d been promising to see for a long time. She lived not exactly far from my end. I live at Ketu while she at Rasco (along Ikorodu rd). There’s just one official bus stop (Mile 12) between mine and hers.
“We talked all day and before I realized it was already night… About 7:30pm thereabouts. Not exactly night in Lagos terms.
“She wanted me to sleep over as we still had a lot of catch up to do, but since I didn’t plan ahead for it nor informed my parents before leaving the house that I wouldn’t be coming back, I insisted on going home and she saw me off to the junction which btw was just a few steps from her house.
“I had earlier tried Uber but most of the drivers were a bit far from my location and would request to cancel on that basis, hence we decided not to waste further time, and use bus instead.
“The junction just overlooked the BRT bus stop, and as we stood bidding our final goodbyes, this particular driver stopped in front of us asking if we were ‘going’. There was no other person in that bus and my instinct got activated and was like “don’t enter”.
“But my friend, as if echoing my thoughts, was like “thank God it’s BRT, there won’t be unnecessary delays and you’d get home on time. It was just 8pm and within 15-20mins, all things being equal, I should be at mine.
“It all happened in a flash and I was seated at one of the front row seats, opposite the driver’s end… My thoughts were that he would just move properly into the bus stop and pick the other passengers waiting at the BRT stand, but instead he bypassed the BRT lane and continued on the normal bus lane till the next intersection.
“By this time my ‘antenna’ was up and everything within me screamed danger. I made a quick scan of the bus and there was no route of escape. Both doors were locked from the control as well as the windows.
“Baba had started talking about how he saw us standing at the junction and liked me blah blah blah. Started enquiring about personal details, my name, what I do, if I can just follow him home that night and all sorts of nonsense.
“Having assessed my situation, my best bet at safety or anything that seemed like it, was to indulge him and play along. Told him I was a student who came home for break, came to visit my friend and on my way back to my house, that my parents were already expecting me.
“I moved on to hijack the conversation, and acted like I was interested in his miserable life. All this was to buy me time to think of how best to get out of that bus. If I panicked (which I did throughout), I didn’t show it. Rather acted relaxed and like it was just a regular bus trip even though it was established in me already that I was in grave danger.
“He talked about spending the night with him, and all the nonsense, but I politely deflected with the excuse that I’ve already stayed out much later than agreed and my parents were calling me, but that I could see him the next day, or even spend the entire weekend 🙄🤦🏾♀️ (weekend I would already be in Asaba 😂).
“It’s actually not funny. From the conversation he said his name was Andrew, he doesn’t usually ply that route, that he’s more on the island, and lives in shagamu 🤦🏾, and would most likely not see me again, that I’m scamming him.
“By this time he had gotten to the next bus stop, still refused picking anybody, instead moved ahead a bit and parked, and put out the bus lights. There was stark darkness within, though the street lights illuminated the surroundings so I could see people but no one could see me. How do I signal these passersby for help? Everywhere was still tightly locked in all of this so all conversations were contained within.
“He said we should move to the back row and talk better 🤦🏾. My body language kept speaking unease, and I kept looking at my wrist watch signalling him that I was late and we could meet earlier the next day, anywhere he wants, and talk as long as he wanted.
“By this time he had already collected my phone numbers (yeah, he ensured to collect the 2 lines he saw on my phone, dialed both to ensure I wasn’t giving him wrong numbers and saw them ring). As earlier said, my best bet at safety was to go with the flow, while strategizing for better options, and so I did.
“Baba dragged me by the hands, and as usual I didn’t struggle but followed him to the back row. By now it was established in my head that this is most likely going to end as an attempted but failed rape case (I didn’t even think for a second that it was going to be successful, my fight response was on a high and I racked my brain for all the possible things I could do to temporarily subdue him and be hitting the bus till people from outside notices me.
“I’d had 3 such previous attempts in younger years and God somehow always helped me escape untouched from those locked rooms so he wouldn’t allow this infidel do this now. I would rather die than let it happen (though the picture in my head was more of me harming him with his weapon if he brought out any).
“I had a feeling he might make to stab me and I kept looking out for any attempts of him bringing out a pocket knife and how I was going to struggle for and collect it (blame too much of crime and thriller novels 😂).
“As he made to run his hands on my body indiscriminately (Ewww), I subtly pushed him away, curled into myself and used my elbow as a wedge.
“He flared up, that if I said I liked him just like he liked me, why am I resisting. Told him I’m just anxious to get home already that’s why, not because I didn’t like him. He just kept acting weird and looking outside to one direction most of this time. Guess he was looking out for someone or something.
“After a while, he got frustrated and moved back to his driver seat and continued the journey. As he just moved, my mom’s call came in coincidentally, and I ensured to put it on speaker, tell her which bus stop we just left and that I would be home in about 5mins.
“He drove in silence for the rest of the trip until we got to my bus stop and he opened the door and decided to pick passengers. The way I ran out of the bus eh… Werey even told me to be careful and be safe oo as I was going.
“I got home and called my friend that I was going to gist her the next day about the experience and what I just escaped, but I never did. Everytime I wanted to I would get anxiety feelings and become fidgety and I would withhold. I don’t like things that dishevel my composure so I suppress it.
“I decided to shelve that experience. It was just another near rape experience or so I thought…
“While going through WhatsApp statuses yesterday, I saw a pic of a girl on my classmate’s status with the caption RIP, and that she was killed by a BRT driver. The next status was a picture of the said driver, and when I opened it, guess who? The exact same driver I encountered. Abi eyes dey pain me? I said let me look at the name, let me not be too forward. Guess what? I saw Andrew! The exact same guy!
“When I saw the pics, I told a friend of my encounter and she told me the story was somehow similar to the girl’s story, and proceeded to show me the full story of the girl as captured online.
“Since yesterday I haven’t been myself. I stay and just start panicking for nothing. It is unlike me. I do not panic even in danger. But since yesterday my body will just shudder intermittently and I keep looking over my shoulder every time.
“I feel so traumatized that I’ve even been considering seeing the mental health team if I don’t feel better in a week. What I thought was just a near rape experience could have been something nastier. My God!
“Thank God for small and big mercies! And RIP to the dead. I pray the full wrath of the law is meted on that man. He doesn’t deserve to live.”
Onyinyechi also shared a screenshot showing she had a call history with the BRT bus driver on December 29, 2021.
To confirm the name associated with the phone number, Truecaller, a caller identification application, showed that the name — Andrew Nice Lbsl — was associated with the phone number.
On Friday, March 11, the BRT driver, Andrew Nice was arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Lagos on five-count charge of alleged murder, rape, and interference with the deceased’s corpse.
