The BRT driver Andrew Ominikoron, who is facing trial over the alleged rape and murder of a passenger Bamise Ayanwola in Lagos, has disowned his confessional statement to the police.
Mr Ominikoro is accused of raping and murdering Bamise, 22, in February. He is also accused of raping another passenger Maryjane Odezelu November 25, 2021.
A homicide police officer Sunday Ihende, who is also a prosecution witness, told the Lagos High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) on Tuesday that he came in contact with the defendant on March 7.
The witness told the court that the defendant made an oral confession because he was not literate.
“He said that he was assigned to afternoon duty from 2 p.m. – 7 p.m.” the witness said.
“He admitted picking the late Bamise at Chevron bus stop around 7 p.m. and said that a few bus stops after that he picked three male passengers.”
The male passengers ordered him to stop while one of them pointed a gun at him, the police said.
Ihende further said that while one held him at gunpoint, the two others dragged the deceased.
The police told the court that in the confessional statement, the defendant said he did not know when the passengers dragged the deceased off the bus.
“He sped off and thought that the late Bamise was with him,” the witness said. “And when he got to 7UP he parked the vehicle.”
The police officer said that when he asked if he came across any police officer on the road, the defendant said that he saw some but could not report the matter because he had flouted the company’s rule by driving beyond 7 p.m.
When Babatunde Martin, a state lawyer, tried to file the confessional statement as evidence, the defense lawyer, Kayode Omotubora objected.
Omotubora refused the admissibility of the confessional statement on the ground that they were taken “involuntarily and under duress.”
