For seven years, suspected dare-devil kidnapper, Chukwudemeje George
Onwamadike aka Evans, escaped police dragnet. His escape during his
daring kidnapping runs had conferred on him supernatural invincibility
of sort. His reign, however, came to an end last Saturday, after a
police special squad led by Abba Kyari, an Assistant Commissioner of
Police (ACP), arrested him at his No 3, Fred Shoboyede Street, Magodo,
Lagos home, after a fierce gun battle which lasted several hours.
An
abduction carried out by his gang on February 14 this year had paved
way for his demystification. On that day, which coincidentally was
celebrated all over the world as St. Valentine’s Day otherwise known as
lovers day, a pharmacist and the owner of Maydon Pharmaceutical Company,
Ilupeju, Lagos, Mr. Donatus Dunu, was abducted by Evans’ gang.
Dunu
had barely left his office in the evening when he was blocked by a
vehicle. Before he knew it, Evans’ gun-wielding men had stepped out of
the vehicle and bundled the pharmacist into their vehicle and sped off
to No 21, Prophet Asaye Close, New Igando, a Lagos suburb where he was
kept for three months.
Evans subsequently demanded the payment of
a sum of one million euros as ransom. Despite efforts to make Evans see
reason and reduce the money, he would have none of it, even after a sum
of N100 million had been paid to him. It was either the money was paid
or Dunu paid with his life.
While looking for the money, Dunu’s
wife, who is also a director of the company, staff members organized
prayers for the safe return of their boss. One of the workers said: “We
did not only pray but engaged in fasting too. Who will not pray and fast
if his or her boss was in such condition? It was really traumatic for
us.”
Unknown to Dunu’s wife and his workers, the person who gave
the information leading to Dunu’s abduction was one of the staff members
of the company, identified as Emeka, who was employed about five years
ago.
At the gang’s den in New Igando, where Dunu was kept, he had
given up hope on the possibility of regaining his freedom. But he had a
big break in the early hours of Friday, May 12, 2017, while his captors
were deep in sleep. Despite losing his weight, Dunu managed to wriggle
out of the leg-cuff he was held with. He was only wearing a pair of
short and white singlet. A perimeter fence with broken bottles was to
become a major obstacle to his escape, but the victim used his bare hand
to manoeuvre the shattered bottles and climbed his way to freedom.
It
was learnt that when he landed into an adjoining building, he was
mistaken for a fleeing robber or cultist. Security guards raised the
alarm which attracted neighbours to the scene and it was providence that
saved him from being lynched by a mob.
One of the security
guards who asked not to be named said: “I just came to my duty post that
day when I started hearing the shout of ‘thief! Thief!’ I came out and
saw this fair-complexioned man running towards me. I stopped him near
that mini- tanker (he pointed at a decrepit stationary tanker). He was
wearing only his boxer with his white singlet placed on his shoulder.
There was fear in his eyes and he looked sick and traumatised. His body
was blood-stained and there were injuries on his legs probably because
he had been cuffed on his legs for a long time.
“Some people were
unwilling to listen to him and they wanted to take him away. I said no,
they should leave him here and instead call the elders of the
community. I took him to the front of that Foursquare Church and told
him to sit at the entrance of the church. I then asked how much the
kidnappers were demanding from him and how much he had paid and he said
they were demanding N500m and he had paid about N100m. I was shocked. We
then took him to the Igando Divisional Police Station. Later that
afternoon, the operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) returned
with him to the street, but he was so tired and sick; he did not even
come out of the vehicle. They broke into the compound but the kidnappers
had escaped. So many things were discovered in the compound, including
guns, a white bus and a power bike. I had never seen any power bike on
this street before then.”
Home of alleged kidnapper informant |
Abductors’ den
Number 21 Prophet Asaye Close, where Dunu
was kept, is at the end of a close facing the entrance to the street.
The compound has only a single bungalow. The compound is covered with
interlocking stones. It is a study in irony. Carved on the gate is the
sentence ‘Jesus is Alive.’ There is a doorbell on the left side of the
gate. Observing the building closely, it is easy to see why the
kidnappers settled for it. It is a single bungalow, so no noisy
neighbour or neighbours to snoop into their business. It has coconut
trees at the back, but there were no high rise buildings from where
anybody could monitor what they were doing.
Asked about the
activities in the compound, our source said: “They (abductors) kept to
themselves. The guy there, whenever he was driving in from outside, the
gate would have been opened before he got to the gate. In addition, loud
music was always wafting from the bungalow. This always muffled every
noise coming from there. This happened mostly in the day time. In the
night, of course, the generating set would take over. So, we
(neighbours) could never have known what went on there”.
With the
escape of Dunu, he was able to make useful statements to the police
about his kidnap. The next day, May 13, SARS operatives in four patrol
vans stormed Franzaki Street, Bucknor Estate, off Isheri Osun Road. It
was the rented home of one of the workers of Maydon Pharmaceutical,
identified as Emeka, a pharmacist. He is from Oguta, Imo State, and in
his late 30s or early 40’s; he has a wife and a child, according to the
residents, who were rattled by the early morning raid.
Emeka was whisked away from his house by the police. Since then, the residents said he has not returned.
It
was on the basis of this breakthrough that the Lagos Commissioner of
Police, Fatai Owoseni, four days after Emeka’s arrest on May 16 declared
a certain faceless Evans wanted. He said: “We are encouraging Nigerians
to blow the whistle on this kidnapper. Whoever blows the whistle will
get N30 million rewards as stated by the Inspector General of
Police…Evans has been on the wanted list of the Police in Anambra, Edo
and Lagos states for years. The suspects arrested have given us valuable
information, which the command is working on to ensure that he is
apprehended by all means.”
Operatives of the Inspector General of
Police’s anti-kidnapping team went into action and with the aid of high
tech equipment, they were able to track key members of the kidnap
syndicate, rounded them up and then set the stage for the final arrest
of Evans. This came last Saturday when Evans was demystified by the
police.
Mood at the victim’s firm
At the
headquarters of Maydon Pharmaceutical Company Limited at 15 Wilmer
Street, Ilupeju, Lagos, the atmosphere was subdued. The workers
discussed in low tone. There were several innuendoes about a certain
Emeka from Oguta. Both Mr. Donatus Dunu, the chairman of the company,
and his wife, the managing director, were not on seat.
However,
one of the male workers said they had been warned not to discuss their
boss’ harrowing experience with pressmen and that it was only the boss
or his wife that can speak on the matter. Pressed further, he described
his boss’ escape as miraculous. When shown the picture of the compound
where Dunu was kept with the inscription ‘Jesus is alive’, he exclaimed
‘indeed, Jesus is alive!’
Thenationonlineng
Watch Actoe Gideo Okeke Praise God for saving his live through a follower Below….