There is an air of uncertainty concerning the whereabouts of
Chukwuduneme Onwuamadike, the billionaire Kidnapper popularly called Evans.
After weeks of furore and media frenzy, a sudden blackout has descended on the
kidnapper, thus fueling 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 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 on the 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.
Sun Newspaper
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