The defence team of Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, suspected
kidnap kingpin better known as Evans, and that of his five co-defendants have
closed their case before an Ikeja high court.
Evans is standing trial alongside Uche Amadi, Ogechi
Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu and Victor Aduba over the
alleged kidnap of Donatus Dunu, chief executive officer of Maydon
Pharmaceutical Ltd.
The six defendants were arraigned on August 30, 2017, on two
counts of conspiracy and kidnapping.
According to the prosecution, they allegedly kidnapped Dunu
in Lagos on February 14, 2017, and collected £223,000 (N100 million) as ransom
from his family.
All the defendants during the criminal trial have maintained
their innocence.
While testifying in his defence on January 22, 2021, the
first defendant denied bearing Evans as his nickname.
He claimed to be a legitimate businessman and not a
kidnapper.
He alleged that he was forced into admitting to the crime
after the police killed four individuals in his presence.
“I live at Fred Shoboyede Street, Magodo Phase II, Lagos. I
am a businessman and I deal in ornaments and Horlicks,” he said.
“My lord, my name is not Evans and I don’t have a nickname.”
At the court session on Tuesday, Ifeanyi and Aduba, two
former soldiers of the Nigerian Army, while testifying, denied being accomplices
to the crime.
Aduba said he was ordered by Idowu Haruna, identified as a
member of the police intelligence response team (IRT), to sign a written
statement admitting to the crime, but he refused.
Showing the court an injury on his body, Aduba said he was
taken to a “theatre” where he was beaten and cut with a machete by Haruna.
He alleged that in the days he was in custody, three men —
Felix Chinemeren, Paul Samyan and Chukwuma Nwosu — who were initially paraded
before the media as kidnappers, were killed by members of the IRT.
“I was still being told to sign some papers but I refused
and I said if I refuse I will travel (slang for killed). At that point, Idowu
Haruna brought out his phone for me to look at some pictures,” he stated.
“When I looked at it,
I discovered it was the dead bodies of the three men with whom I was in
custody. That was how I was forced to sign the papers.”
Hakeem Oshodi, presiding judge, gave the defence 30 days to
file their final written addresses, while the prosecution was given another 30
days to respond to the final written addresses of the defence.
The case has been adjourned till November 5 for adoption of
the final written addresses.
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