A member of the Inspector General
of Police Intelligence Response Team, Insp. Idowu Haruna, on Friday narrated
before an Ikeja High Court how Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, used a
soldier as a decoy in his high profile criminal activities in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
reports that Haruna, a policeman with 14-years experience, made the revelation
at the ongoing trial of Evans and his co-defendant, Victor Aduba, on
four-counts of kidnapping and unlawful possession of firearms.
Haruna’s hour-long testimony
began at 2 p.m.
While being led in evidence by Mr
Adebayo Haroun, the State Prosecutor, Haruna said: “The second defendant, Aduba
was a member of the Nigerian Army.
“By the time the first defendant
was arrested, he mentioned the name of the second defendant in his confessional
statement.
“He said that whenever they had
an operation, he will call Aduba and the army officer while wearing his full
uniform, will seat at the front passenger seat of their vehicle so that they
can pass through police road blocks with ease.”
Haruna noted that when the
soldier was apprehended by authorities, he faced disciplinary procedures at the
Abati Barracks, Yaba, Lagos, before he was handed over to the police for
questioning.
The policeman in his testimony
also told the court about Evan’s alleged criminal career.
“The first defendant has been
into kidnapping and robbery for a very long time. He started in Edo State, when
I worked there, we arrested about 10 members of his syndicate but he ran away
to Lagos.
“Vincent Obianodo, the boss of
Young Shall Grow Motors was his first victim in Lagos, during Obianodo’s
attempted kidnap, members of his gang were killed but Evans ran away.
“Evans was in charge of providing
the arms and ammunition for his gang.
“He led the operation for the
kidnap of Mr Sylvanus Ahamonu. He was the pilot of the vehicle. He is the sole
negotiator of all the demanded ransome.
“He never allows other members of
his gang to negotiate with victims’ families.
“He collected a total of 420,000
dollars from Ahamonu’s family. $200,000 was personally received from Ahamonu’s
family in two tranches.
“The remaining $20,000 was
collected by Evans from the Ahamonu family for drinks for his boys.
“Aduba the dismissed army officer
confessed to being involved in the kidnap of James Udoji, Ahamonu and one
Ucheson, a businessman in Alaba Market,” he said.
The prosecution sought to tender
the statements of Evans and Aduba as evidence.
However, Evans’ Defence Counsel,
Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje and Mr Emmanuel Ochai, Counsel to Aduba, objected on the
grounds that the confessional statements were not voluntarily made.
Following the objection of the
defence, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo ordered a trial-within-trial to determine the
voluntariness of the statements.
During the trial-within-trial,
Haruna narrated to the court how the statements of the defendants were obtained
by officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) at Ikeja, Lagos.
“The statement of Evans was
recorded by my team member Sgt. Julius Okundaiye in a very conducive office.
“He was seated on a chair. My
team members and I were also there, no one offered him anything for his
confession and he was not tortured, it was not given under duress.
“I was even cracking jokes with
him and he was laughing and admitted that his time is up and nemesis had caught
up with him.
“After recording the statement,
the recorder signed and Evans counter-signed and he was taken to my superior, SP.
Phillips, who read it aloud to him and he counter-signed it.
“The statement of Aduba was also
recorded in the same SARS building at Ikeja by Insp. Christian Ogbu.
“He cooperated with the police,
having been a member of the Nigerian Army.
“After giving the statement, it
was signed and counter-signed by both him and the recorder.
“His statement was recorded
freely and not under duress,” Haruna said.
Taiwo adjourned the case till
July 4 for continuation of the trial-within-trial.
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