{"id":56196,"date":"2022-02-25T18:17:36","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T18:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=56196"},"modified":"2022-02-25T18:17:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T18:17:36","slug":"remorseless-evans-the-kidnapper-goes-to-jail-for-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=56196","title":{"rendered":"Remorseless Evans the kidnapper goes to jail for life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Evans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

E<\/strong>vans showed no remorse during trial despite huge evidence \u2013 judge<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a four-year trial, kidnap kingpin, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike alias Evans, on Friday got life imprisonment for conspiring with two others to\u00a0 kidnap Mr Donatius Dunu,\u00a0 Chief Executive Officer, Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd.<\/p>\n

Justice Hakeem Oshodi of an Ikeja High Court, who passed the sentence, said that Evans and two others did not show any remorse during the trial in spite\u00a0 of huge evidence\u00a0 against them.<\/p>\n

Lagos State Government prosecuted Evans and five others before the court.<\/p>\n

Reports have it that in a three-hour judgment, Oshodi held that the state proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against Evans and two of his co-defendants \u2013 Uche Amadi and Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu.<\/p>\n

The judge convicted the trio on a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping.<\/p>\n

He, however, discharged and acquitted the other co-defendants \u2013\u00a0 Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi an ex-soldier; and Victor Aduba, also an ex-soldier.<\/p>\n

Oshodi held that there was no evidence linking them to the crimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to be stated that none of the three defendants showed any remorse during the trial. Despite the huge evidence stacked against them, they tried to lie their way out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court is also mindful of the harrowing experience of the victim of the kidnapping, to be restrained and blindfolded during the period of his captivity until his escape.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lesson must be taught. In this respect, the law is the law that must be upheld.<\/p>\n

\u201cSection 2(1) of the Kidnapping Prohibition Law of Lagos State, 2017 prescribes a punishment of life imprisonment. The court has no discretion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this respect, the first, second and fourth defendants \u2013 Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike a.k.a Evans, Uche Amadi and Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu \u2013 are each hereby sentenced to life imprisonment. This is the sentence of the court,\u201d he held.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Oshodi dismissed an allegation made by\u00a0 Evans in his final written address to the effect that he was tortured by the police into confessing to the crimes, in contravention of Section 9(3) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law.<\/p>\n

The judge said that two videotapes of Evans\u2019s confession to the police, which were played in court, showed him smiling while admitting to the crimes.<\/p>\n

He added that a close analysis of his physical appearance in the videos showed no evidence of torture.<\/p>\n

Oshodi noted that during the trial, Evans claimed that on Feb. 14, 2017, the day Dunu was kidnapped, he was at home with his wife.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe never elected to call his wife to corroborate this crucial fact, instead, he elected to call his sister (Mrs Ndubuisi Obiechina) to give evidence on his behalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis sister, during cross-examination, agreed that she did not know the movement of the first defendant (Evans) on Feb. 14, 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout mincing words, the evidence of DW2 (Obiechina) is tainted.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe decided to focus on the extrajudicial statement made by the first defendant despite the fact that the court had undertaken an investigation on the validity of the statement in a trial-within-trial,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Before the sentence was passed, counsel to Evans, Mr H. O. Ajibola, in his allocutus (plea for mercy), told the court that he believed that Evans had turned a new leaf.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pray my lord tempers justice with mercy; this is his first conviction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Counsel to Amadi, Ms Evelyn Obogwu, said that her client was a first-time offender.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a son and aged parents who depend on him for livelihood. I urge my lord to be lenient,\u201d she prayed.<\/p>\n

Mr Olanrewaju Ajanaku, counsel to Nwachukwu, also pleaded for mercy for his client, saying that the father of three had become remorseful.<\/p>\n

\u201cI pray your lordship will temper justice with mercy and integrate him into the society because he has learnt his lesson and seen the folly of his ways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lagos State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Ms Titilayo Shitta-Bey, in her response, prayed for a harsh sentence on the convicts to serve as a deterrent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn view of the gravity of the offence which is very prevalent in our society, I urge this honourable court to impose a harsh sentence that will serve as a deterrent to people of similar minds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe message has to be sent out loud and clear, through the punishment meted out to the defendants, that there will be zero tolerance for this type of criminal activity in our society,\u201d Shitta-Bey said.<\/p>\n

NAN reports that this is the first judgment delivered in the five kidnapping trials Evans is facing at the various High Courts of Lagos State.<\/p>\n

Evans and his co-defendants were arraigned before Oshodi on Aug. 31, 2017, on a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping.<\/p>\n

According to the prosecution, Dunu was kidnapped by Evans and his other gang members on Feb. 14, 2017, on Obokun Street, Ilupeju Road, Lagos State, and was shackled and blindfolded during his 88-day ordeal.<\/p>\n

It said that the gang collected 223,000 euros as ransom from Dunu\u2019s family for his release.<\/p>\n

The prosecution closed its case on Jan. 10, 2020, after presenting four witnesses, including Dunu<\/p>\n

The defence closed its case on Aug. 3, 2021, after the six defendants and Evans\u2019s sister, Mrs Ndubuisi Obiechina testified.<\/p>\n

The offences are in violation of Section 2(1) of the Kidnapping Prohibition Law, No. 13, Laws of Lagos State, 2017, and Section 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.<\/p>\n

\u25aa\ufe0e By Vanguard<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Evans showed no remorse during trial despite huge evidence \u2013 judge After a four-year trial, kidnap kingpin, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike alias Evans, on Friday got life imprisonment for conspiring with two others to\u00a0 kidnap Mr Donatius Dunu,\u00a0 Chief Executive Officer, Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd. Justice Hakeem Oshodi of an Ikeja High Court, who passed the sentence, said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":39577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56196\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}