Banalayefa Asiayei's widow, Evelyn, claims that a witness who was in the car with her husband claimed to the family that the man got out, looked at Banalayefa, got back in the car, and drove off after the security guard shot him. Banalayefa was a driver from Bayelsa. According to her, the witness was the one who jotted down the number plate number of the van.
As reported by The Punch News in an interview, Evelyn Asiayei said, "According to my in-laws, one of the passengers was still in the vehicle when the policeman shot my husband. The eyewitness told them everything that happened, and they became angry. They took the body to the gate of the government house. They had to. At first, the policemen there asked them how they were so sure that it was an officer attached to the state security outfit, Operation Doo Akpo, who shot him, as many people were patrolling Azikoro Road, where my husband was killed."
Evelyn Asiayei continued, "My husband’s family told them an eyewitness had given them the van number. According to the eyewitness, after shooting my husband, the policeman got out, looked at him, then got back into their vehicle and drove off. As they were driving, the eyewitness quickly wrote down the van number. So, my husband’s family gave the van number to the officers at the gate, and they made a call."