An Ikeja special offences court in Lagos has sentenced
Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, kidnap kingpin better known as Evans, to 21 years
imprisonment.
Oluwatoyin Taiwo, the presiding judge, also sentenced Victor
Aduba, co-defendant, to 21 years in prison.
The convicts were charged with plotting to kidnap Sylvanus
Ahanonu, a businessman, on June 23, 2014, in the Amuwo Odofin neighbourhood of
Lagos.
Ahanonu, while giving his testimony as a prosecution
witness, said his driver was waylaid by some men in police and military
uniforms, who claimed to be officers of the defunct special anti-robbery squad
(SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force.
“Evans came into my car brandishing an AK-47 rifle. He was
wearing three-quarter jeans trousers,” he said.
Ahanonu added that his abductors contacted his wife three
weeks after his kidnap to demand $2 million ransom or he would be murdered.
He said his wife was able to raise a total of $420,000
before he was released after two months in captivity.
However, Evans, who claimed to be in the transport business,
denied the accusation.
He said the police forced him to admit to some allegations
and sign incriminating documents.
Delivering judgment on Monday, the judge held that the
prosecution successfully proved the case of kidnap and possession of firearms
against the convicts.
“It has been established by the prosecution witness (PW3,
Ahanonu) that the complainant was kidnapped. The question is who kidnapped
him?” the judge said.
“PW3 identified the first defendant in court while he was
giving his testimony. He also recognised him at the police station nearly two
months before the matter was taken to court.
“He testified that he was blindfolded before taken to the
bus. He said ‘immediately I saw him, I
said this was the person that kidnapped me’. I also watched the video where the
first defendant admitted to have kidnapped PW3.
“The first defendant sat in a comfortable chair and there
was no sign that he made the statement under duress. He was not threatened or
harassed. He signed the statement.
“He also said how he broke into banks and later graduated to
kidnapping. I am satisfied that this court can convict the defendants through
his confessional statement.”
Additionally, the judge ruled that there was insufficient
evidence to support the claim that three of the men who were with Evans were
killed by police officers as alleged.
For Aduba, the second defendant, he was found guilty based
on his confessional statement, and the judge ruled that he would serve out his
sentence without the option of fine.
“I have considered
the allocutus of the defence counsel. This sentencing will serve as a deterrent
to others,” the judge held.
“The two are hereby sentenced to a five-year jail term for
the first count, second count, 21 years, and third count, five years.
“The sentencing will,
however, run concurrently. They are hereby sentenced to 21 years imprisonment
without an option of fine.”
The development comes months after Hakeem Oshodi, an Ikeja
high court judge, convicted Evans and two others on two counts of conspiracy
and kidnapping.
They were found guilty of kidnapping Donatus Dunu, chief
executive officer of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
According to the prosecution, they kidnapped Dunu in Lagos
on February 14, 2017, and collected £223,000 (N100 million) as ransom from his
family.
On February 25, 2022, the trio were sentenced to life
imprisonment.
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