Justice Hakeem Oshodi handed out the sentence to the trio  after convicting them on two counts of conspiracy and kidnapping of a businessman, Donatus Duru.

The victim is the Managing Director of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

In convicting the trio, Justice Oshodi held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charge against them beyond a reasonable doubt.

Reaching his verdict on Evans, the judge held that he observed the demeanour of the witness, adding that in some of the confessional videos played in court, Evans had mentioned some of the other defendants and the roles they played in the crime.

“He was seen freely laughing and willingly answered questions. A close look at his body shows no sign of torture. He did not look unkempt. He is seen laughing even when he was told that he must be a rich kidnapper.

“He showed no remorse in the dock and tried to lie his way out of the crimes despite the video evidence”, Justice Oshodi said.

He, however concluded that the evidence tendered before the court especially their video confessions corroborated their guilt.

The court also discharged and acquitted Ogechi Uchechukwu and two former soldiers of the Nigerian Army, Chilaka Ifeanyi and Victor Aduba, for lack of sufficient evidence linking them to the crime.

It would be recalled that the Lagos State government had arraigned Evans alongside Uche Amadi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, and Victor Aduba for allegedly kidnapping the Managing Director of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Limited, Donatus Dunu, on February 14, 2017.

The state had claimed that the convicts committed the alleged offence between February 14 and April 12, 2017.

The prosecution had further told the court that the incident took place at about 7:45 pm, along Obokun Street, in the Ilupeju area of Lagos.

The prosecution told the court that on April 12, Evans alongside the other five defendants while armed with guns and other weapons captured, detained and collected a ransom of 223,000 euros from Donatus for his release.

The Lagos State government subsequently arraigned the defendants before the court in August 2017.

In all, the prosecution presented four witnesses, including the victim, Dunu while the defence presented six witnesses including Evans who testified in his own defence.

Evans is also facing similar charges before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo and Justice Adedayo Akintoye of the same court.

The post UPDATED: Kidnap kingpin, Evans, two others sentenced to life in prison first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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Opara, who claimed to be a graduate of civil engineering, disclosed that he was an informant for Evans and his gang.

He said this at the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command in GRA, Ikeja Lagos.

The 53-years-old said his role was to monitor victims while Evans paid him any amount he felt like for services rendered.

Opara, prior to his arrest said he operated a company, Linok Construction Company located at No. 3 Umezinne Street, off Saint Peters Street, Alaba, Lagos.

The informant, who was arrested at about 9pm on July 20, 2017 at his house in Igando, Lagos, claimed he was introduced to Evans by a late member of the gang identified as Doctor.

He said: ”Do not look at my white hair; it is not as a result of old age. Rather, my hair turned white because of long suffering after my graduation as a civil engineer from the University of Ibadan. It is still a surprise to me how an illiterate person like Evans was able to lure me into kidnapping and all his illicit business.

”I studied Civil Engineering in the University of Ibadan. I am married with four children and they are still schooling. My wife is a graduate of Accountancy from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), but she has not secured work till date.

“I am not anything to Evans. We only address him as chairman and sometimes as president of group of companies. I was arrested and taken to the State Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS) building in Ikeja on 20th July, 2017.

“I saw Evans for the first time the day I supplied a nutrition supplement because I am a distributor. The second time I met Evans was when policemen took me from their cell to an unknown place in Lagos, because I was blindfolded. I could not see where they were taking me to.

”It was when they took me to Evans that they removed the blindfold and I saw him. I addressed him as Nwachinemelu. Police were asking both of us questions and I was answering accordingly.

“They asked me how many times I worked for Evans and I said two times, and that I turned him down the third time that he asked me to do another job. I told the police that I monitored victims for him and he paid me. I did not know the names of the victims.

”During the first work I did for him, he sent a motorcycle rider to meet me at Olowola Bus Stop. He gave my phone number to him and he called me. When I met him, I asked him where he was taking me to. He said he was taking me to Trade Fair area. So I entered (sic) his motorcycle and he took me to under the bridge at Trade Fair.

”He drove (rode) towards Mile 2 area. Evans called me and asked where we were and I told him. But he asked me to go home; that I had done well.

“When we reached Alakija, I told him and he said I should not worry myself; that he had told others to allow me to go to my house. When he called again, he asked me to send my bank account number to him. I sent my First Bank account number to him and he wired the sum of N2 million to my account. I was surprised.

”The second time, it was the same process as he already had my bank account number. He sent me the sum of N700,000.

“When he called me for the third job, I told him that I was not interested, because I started sensing some errors in the business, like getting afraid for the kind of money he was giving me. The money he was giving me in the twinkle of an eye was bigger than the money I used to make in a whole year as a civil engineer.”

The post Billionaire kidnapper: I’m still wondering how illiterate Evans lured me into crime – Civil Engineering graduate first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Billionaire kidnapper: I’m still wondering how illiterate Evans lured me into crime – Civil Engineering graduate appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

Okpara, who himself was arrested for providing information to Evans, claimed he was deceived into crime by the kidnap kingpin.

He told Vanguard thus: “I visited my home town in 2014. When I was travelling to Lagos State I took a car at Asaba. The driver of the vehicle identified himself as Doctor. He told me he was a drug peddler and promised to assist me with building contracts. He told me that he would link me to some of his rich friends.

“A few days later I got a call from a man who identified himself as Nnwachinemelu, who told me that doctor gave him my number.

“He asked me what I was into and I told him. We agreed to meet. We met at Ajao Estate, Lagos where he told me that there was a man trading at Trade Fair Complex, who was indebted to him. He said he needed me to monitor the man so that he would arrest him.

“He sent a bike to pick me up and asked that I should wait on Trade Fair Bridge and look out for the man because he had told me the colour and the plate number of the man’s vehicle.

“When I sighted it, I called him and he asked me to follow the man. When we got to Alakija, we watched the man as he entered Festac Town. He asked us to go back, saying he would take care of the situation from that point. He asked me to go home and two days later he sent N2million into my bank account.

“About seven months after then he called again and told me that the bike man would come to my house and would take me to a place in Agbara. He said I would help him monitor the movement of a man.

We got to Agbara and waited until the man, started leaving his office and we followed him down to Alakija. Evans asked me to pull back again, saying he would take care of the situation. Two months later he called me and paid N700, 000 into my account.

‘’A few weeks after then, he asked me to go to Abule-Oshun to monitor the movement of a man who had an office there. I monitored the man and discovered that I knew the man, who is Mike Umuberede.

“I refused to give him complete information about the man because I knew him and he is from my home town. The man is the owner of Super Master electrical appliances and he had once helped me when my father fell sick.

“I told Evans that I knew the man and he must not kidnap him but Evans got angry with me. Evans said all his men were on standby, saying they were ready to kidnap the man. I lied to him that I had alerted the man and he has contacted the Police.

“He cursed me for betraying him and threatened to kill all the members of my family. He stopped communicating with me from at that point.

“When I heard he was arrested I was glad because he is a beast and a very greedy man. I learned from the newspapers that he collected millions of dollars as ransom and he gave me peanuts. I didn’t know the Police would come after me. But I regret my actions and would turn a new leaf. But I am happy Evans has been arrested.’

The post Billionaire Kidnapper: How I foiled Evans’ attempt to kidnap my kinsman – Okpara first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

The post Billionaire Kidnapper: How I foiled Evans’ attempt to kidnap my kinsman – Okpara appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.