frenzy, a sudden blackout has descended on the case of Chukwuduneme
Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans, Nigeria’s infamous billionaire kidnapper, thus
fuelling speculations that he’s escaped, or dead.
Saturday Sun has however gathered that Evans is not dead as his family
now fears but has been moved from the Lagos police command headquarters
cell by about 30 heavily armed men at midnight few days ago to an
undisclosed destination. Some senior police officers in the know told
Saturday Sun he was moved to Abuja
Indeed, in the last few days, a palpable silence seemed to have
enshrouded the Evans phenomenon. Where is Evans? It is a question the
police is not prepared to officially answer right now. A man who
hitherto divulged the details of his criminal life to the public almost
on a daily basis is suddenly no longer accessible to even the press
corps.
All a Saturday Sun reporter who visited the state police command was
told was that Evans is no longer allowed to talk to the press till
further notice. The secrecy surrounding his whereabouts in the official
quarters baffles those who have closely followed his story since his
arrest.
After days of sniffing around the Lagos police formations to get
information on Evans whereabouts, it was gathered that the kidnap
kingpin had been moved out of the Lagos command headquarters days ago by
heavily armed policemen and is yet to be returned.
Police had last week said they had got a court order to detain him for
three months to give them enough time to complete their investigation.
This followed two suits filed by Evans lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, at the
High Court seeking his release and claiming N300m damages from the
police.
Some senior police officers who spoke to Saturday Sun on condition of
anonymity expressed fears that Evans might not make it to the court.
They argued that he might plot his escape from prison, or get across to
some of his members who are still on the run. Their concerns are not
farfetched, given that several inmates in the past had reportedly
committed much heinous crimes even while in prison.
Some of the officers confirmed that Evans was no longer in the police
cell in Lagos. “He has not been returned since he was moved out. Evans
is a broken man; police can’t resort to extra-judicial killings at this
point. He is cooperating, and he is ready to help return all his
ill-gotten wealth as soon as possible”, one of the officers said.
Another reliable source at the police command told Saturday Sun “Evans
is not an ordinary criminal. I guess that they took him out for further
investigation but I don’t know why they are yet to return him to his
cell.” The source further assured: “No one is planning to kill Evans. I
believe that they will return him later. He could be in any good cell in
the state for security reasons, but I can assure you that he is not
dead yet. Even if anything happens to him, if he dies in custody, it
will be as a result of cancer which he claims he is suffering from.”
Yet another senior police officer who preferred anonymity assured that
Evans is okay. “He is okay and seriously cooperating with the police in
its investigation. From the look of things, he might not spend up to
three months in detention before he’s charged to court. As for his
location, I assure you that he is in a protective custody somewhere out
of town.” The officer who reinforced fears within the police circle,
said that “a criminal is always a criminal,” adding that, “with the
number of robbery cases and kidnappings to his credit, he is well known
among criminals.”
He told Saturday Sun: “Within the short period that he spent in our
cell, he is already controlling inmates in the cell. They fear and
respect him; we do not want to run the risk of allowing him to form
another notorious group which is common amongst them.”
On why his family is yet to get access to him, the officer said that
they are yet to approach the police. “A lot of his family members
benefitted from his ill-gotten wealth, so they are afraid to come close
to the police station.
Evans confirmed that he bought a car for his father and also gave him N3m. The police will recover such money and properties.
We will soon get a warrant to pick his father up and possibly his mother, who also benefitted.”
Calls and text messages to both the Lagos Police Spokesman, Olarinde
Famous-Cole and the Force PRO, Moshood Jimoh on the official position of
the Police on Evans’ whereabouts were neither answered nor responded to
as at 10pm yesterday.