The week when the world celebrate women in dedicating a day to them has been badly punctuated by the sad news from Lagos. The story, which has since gone viral, is that a hardworking girl, Oluwabamise, had finished the week’s work as a fashion designer and set out te see her brother, and, subsequently, her parents at about 7pm on February 26. On her way to visit her brother, Pelumi, she boarded the BRT vehicle around Chevron Bus Stop in Lekki, Lagos.
The busman who was said to be conveying Oluwabamise to her destination in Oshodi, strangely, did not pick any other passenger. She became anxious and suspicious, and reportedly contacted one of her colleagues at work, Felicia Omolara, to inform her about her suspicion. Her friend advised her to disembark from the bus. It had become late. Oluwabamise’s corpse was later recovered in the Ebutte Ero area of the state.
There has been a back-and-forth argument about the gruesome murder, and the removal of private parts for alleged ritual purposes. I had commented on this space, three weeks ago, on the matter of ritual killing. In the article titled “Republic of rituals?” I had noted that this lie about money literally dropping from human parts was the kind of lie that made our ancestors kill twins in the days of yore because they were said to be evil. The ritualists seem to hate riches, which is why they would do it for other people rather than enrich themselves. That someone would tie red cloth and palm fronts in one dingy place and make you rich when you present certain human parts, but the person who makes you rich would rather remain in the dungeon, remains intriguing.
Back to the story of 22-year-old Oluwabamise, who met her end midstream. As the uncertain journey made uncertain progress, she took pictures of the dark bus, and sent to her friend. She sent voice notes and sundry evidence of an uncertain movement. A certain Andrew Nice, who might not be that nice going by the narrative, was the driver of the ill-fated bus, and is accused of perpetrating the evil. But the driver, whose first reaction was to take to his heels, later said the vehicle was attacked by gunmen. If that actually happened, it becomes more intriguing why he did not report the matter when he finally got to the bus terminal. He parked the bus, as though nothing happened, and later went into hiding until we was smoked out by the police in a hideout in Ogun State. He could not run from the long arm of the law. The incident has shattered the 84-year-old and 74-year-old parents who have found no words to express the disaster that has seen them in losing their baby in old age. Had the lady passed away as an infant, time would probably have healed the wound. Now they live to face the cultural tragedy of burying their child, the baby of the house for that matter. The girl’s pregnant elder sister was said to have collapsed at the news. She is now receiving treatment from an undisclosed hospital.
The call for justice on the matter is rife, and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has reportedly visited the bereaved family. Expectations are high that justice would be served on the matter in the long run. But why do women always get the short end of the stick? In the event that this is a ritual killing, although there is counter-information about the removal of her private parts, the question is, why do women seem to have the most potent body parts for rituals?
Seven of 10 cases of ritual killings are most likely to be women in a largely patriarchal society where politics, career and business make eyebrows to rise if a woman stands out. They would fight harder battles to stand out because the society does not seem to anticipate excellence from them in high-flying careers. But they are breaking the jinx.
The number of women making waves in politics can be counted on the fingers, and the number continues to dwindle. The matter is worsened by the parity in appointments. The distinction in the South-West, where there seems to be an unwritten rule that Deputy Governors would be women, was lately punctuated in Lagos. If the punctuation continues, it would become another norm in the South-West, where I hold that women have made the most progress in politics. The matter is worse in the North, where the few women in politics come to light through appointments. Kaduna has blazed the trail in getting the first female Deputy Governor in that part, although the governor negated religious balancing in that choice, but he showed respect for women in a society where women are given their dues in word but not in deed.
The cultural oppression of the womenfolk is not abating with modernity. In Igboland, in spite of a Supreme Court ruling in favour of women on the matter, women are still excluded in inheritance matters. My first culture shock in Lagos came when the first apartment I shared with fellow bachelor friends was owned by a relatively young lady who inherited the said building from her late father. It was strange. Even as I write, girls in Igboland still do not inherit their father’s property, and elders in the villages have not shifted from that stance. It is even worsened by educated people who tuck their education away on the matter.
The lame argument is that when the women marry, they enjoy their husband’s inheritance, which is why it amounts to double inheritance if they also get from their maiden homes. I believe that the Supreme Court has sufficiently laid that matter to rest in an appeal from a ruling of a Lagos High Court that voided the Igbo native law, which disinherits women. The court held that the practice was in conflict with Section 42(1) of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has said so but the tradition still prevails.
The matter of Oluwabamise may seem unconnected with the tradition I have cited, but if judgment is not served on the matter, it would be another injustice to a woman. Yes, every life counts, just that this happened when the world was celebrating women.