Passengers who left their various houses for work in Lagos on Tuesday were stranded at various bus stations as operators of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) scheme in the state suspended operations for fear of attacks in the wake of the death of 22-year-old Bamise Ayanwole, who was abducted and killed after boarding a BRT vehicle in the Lekki area of the state on February 26.
Our reporter who visited a BRT terminal at Ojodu/Berger in morning hours of Tuesday, confirmed that there were not buses to convey passengers, and the the usually ubiquitous yellow buses were unable to meet demand amid biting fuel scarcity.
Some officials Primero, the firm operating the BRT buses told our reporter on the condition of anonymity that they could not operate for fear of attack.
“We got information that some touts had planned to attack our buses, so we opted not to operate today,” one official said.
“We have not forgotten what happened during the EndSARS protest in 2020, so it’s better to play safe.”
Some bystanders spoken to by our reporter also said they were aware of the attack threat.
Anger had swelled across the state following the discovery of Bemise’s body by the Lagos State police command on Monday.
Meanwhile, the BRT driver in whose bus she was allegedly attacked and killed in what seemed like ritual killing has been arrested by the police.