Donatus Dunu, managing director
of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Lagos, on Friday told an Ikeja high court how he
was kept in chains for 88 days by the gang of Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike the
billionaire kidnapper better known as Evans.
Led in evidence by Titilayo
Shitta-Bey, director of public prosecutions (DPP) in Lagos, Dunu spoke for four
hours.
He started by identifying his
alleged captors.
“I know this one he is Evans, I
know the second one he is Uche and I know the fourth one he is Congo,” he said
as he narrated how he was captured.
“At 7.30 p.m. when I closed from
work, I was going home along Obokun Street, Ilupeju, Lagos. I suddenly saw an
SUV in front of my car, I wanted to reverse but two people came out of the SUV
holding long guns.
“They pointed the long guns at me
and dragged me out of my car and pushed into the booth of the SUV, covering me
with a car cover, someone lay on top of me and I was taken to an unknown place.
“On our way, they brought out a
locally made iron and bound my hands with and when we had reached the unknown
place and while face down I was taken to a bungalow.My hands were bound with
locally made iron and my legs were bound with shackles used for madmen.
“In the parlour of the house,
they started asking for my name, my wife and children’s name as well as the
name of my hometown. After telling them, their chairman asked them to bring
guns, a very long gun and a black and silver pistol was brought, they showed me
the guns and Ak47 was written on the long gun. They said now that I have said
all these things, it is confirmed that I am the person that they are looking for
and I have to pay the bail.
“Their chairman said that I
should give them their money and that it has to be complete and that nothing
must remain.
“The chairman is Evans, he is
their boss, after they made their demands they put me in a dark room. Their
money was the money that they wanted to take from me, they had not mentioned
any amount at this point. When I was taken to the dark room, I was asked to
remove my clothes and I was given a pair of boxer short to wear and I was
blindfolded where I remained till April 10.
“That night, they brought a phone
that their chairman wanted to speak to me, the chairman told me that I was
nobody on earth can bring me out that it is only God that will bring me out.
“He said that if I should prove
stubborn, he will give me an injection that will make me forget myself in life
and that he can also ask his boys to use the pillow to suffocate me that no one
will know about it.
“A week later, I told the boys
that I want to speak to their chairman and the next day they brought a phone to
me that their chairman wanted to speak to me. He asked where I have warehouses
and he also asked me why I used to go to Alaka Estate in Surulere, I told him I
have a friend there but one of my warehouses are in Eriaka Street and I have
two other warehouses in Alao Estate, Lagos.
“He asked for the addresses and I
told him I didn’t know the addresses, he told me that he heard that I gave my
staff 40 Toyota Corolla cars and he heard I pay my graduate staff N50, 000 per
month. I told him yes that the N50, 000 was for their take home but it was like
a contract that if they make their target for the sale of goods, they earn a
commission.”
Dunu said Evans later told him
that he would not regain freedom until his family paid a ransom of $1 million.
The pharmacist said some days
later Evans changed his mind and requested for one million Euros.
Dunu said when he told his elder
brother about the ransom, he started crying, wondering where they were going to
get the money.
“After about three days, I was
told my bill is no longer $1 million but €1 million euros, that he has gotten
more information about me. That night he called again and asked for my
brother’s phone number and I gave him,” he said.
“They called my brother and were
beating me so that he will hear my cry and told me that I should tell him I
have agreed to pay €1 million and I told my brother.
“My brother told them they have
been able to change up to €223,000 and he asked me to tell my brother to make
it €250,000 and my brother informed me that it will take additional N11 million
to get the remaining €27,000 and that it took them two months to get the
€223,000 that it’s not easy to raise such money.
“I was in a very bad condition
when we were negotiating the ransom, they removed my mattress and I was made to
sleep on the tiled floor.
“Anytime they called my brother
they will beat me for him to hear my cries, I told my brother to get to know
sources where we can borrow money from.
“At a point he said they were
able to raise N60 million that when I come out, they will get the remaining
money from me. He said I and my brother are talking rubbish and that he should
change the money into euro as agreed.
“There was a time the naira
appreciated so much sometime in March last year that he (Evans) asked not to
change it to Euros anymore. Later when the naira depreciated, he asked them to
go back to Euros, I pleaded with him that Euros was hard to change and his boys
later told me to ask for a discount.
“He agreed to a 50 percent
discount and my bail was reduced from 1 million euros to 500,000 Euros.”
He said on Wednesday before 2017
Easter, Evans agreed to reduce his ransom to 250,000 euros.
He said on Easter Monday, he
overheard two of his captors plotting to kill him at a canal on the Friday of
that week.
Dunu said at 3am on the Thursday
preceding his planned murder, he escaped from captivity.
“There was a bed sheet on the bed
and as a joke, I wrapped it around the leg shackles and the padlocks opened,”
he said.
“At that point, I said to myself
I will go, if I stay they will kill me, if they catch me while trying to escape
they will still kill me, I might as well go.
“The other person who was to
guard me was asleep on a settee in the parlour, the fan was on and was so
noisy.
“The wooden kitchen door was not
locked but the burglary proof was locked, I unlocked the upper and lower bolts
and when I pushed the burglary proof that locks slid from the hook.
“In the compound, there was
something like a ladder leaning on the fence and the top portion of the fence
where the ladder was did not have bottles.
“I jumped over the fence into
another compound and knocked on a window and told the man that responded my
problem. He said that he did not know me that I should get away from their
compound or they will call the police or security and I asked him to call the
police.
“The man and his wife got up from
their bed and brought out their phones to call the police; at that point NEPA
took light and they went back to bed.
“Something told me to hide and
not long after past 6.00 a.m., they started looking for me in their big bike
and Toyota Hiace.
“The people I jumped into their
compound woke up and saw me hiding, I asked the woman to put me in the booth of
their Honda Accord car and get me away.
“She said No that the only thing
they could do for me is to call the chairman of the area.
“There are two families living in
that compound, a small boy of about 20 to 22 years came out with a plastic pipe
and chased me away that I am a thief.”
He said he went to a nearby
nursery school where he drew the attention of members of the public because of
his unkempt appearance.
He said after his ordeal, Evans
and his accomplices asked him for forgiveness.
Dunu while being cross-examined
by Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje, Evans’ lawyer, said that he made a mistake by giving
conflicting dates of February 14, 2017, and April 14, 2017, as the date of his
kidnap in his statement to the police.
He also said that while writing
his statement after his release, he was unaware that a ransom had been paid.
Hakeem Oshodi, the judge,
adjourned the case till May 10 for a continuation of trial.
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