Tag: evans
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Photos: Evans leads detectives to his Igando, Ejigbo dens
Billionaire kidnap kingpin, Chukwudubem Onwuamadike, a.k.a Evans, who was arrested, recently, by the police for coordinating several high profile kidnappings, yesterday, led police operatives to two houses in Ejigbo and Igando areas of Lagos state, where he kept some of his victims for months.
Evans revealed during the visit to his Igando hideout, located at Green Street, that he kept five persons including Chief James Uduji and Francis Umeh at the Igando den.
He stated that he vacated the den when people started suspecting his activities in the area.
He further disclosed that he rented the apartment in 2014 stating that he kept Francis Umeh for five months in that apartment before he moved to the other house in Ejigbo.
The kidnap kingpin also took detectives to another bungalow at Orisunmbare by hospital junction in Jakande estate, Lagos where he had another hideout.
Residents of the areas where Evans operated were shocked that such a thing was happening around them without their knowledge.
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#FreeEvans: Calls for release of Kidnap kingpin upset Nigerians
An online campaign with the hashtag #FreeEvans, calling for the release of a kidnap mastermind, Chukwudidumeme Onuamadike, aka Evans, which went viral yesterday, has provoked some Nigerians on the internet, particularly on Twitter.
The suspected criminal was arrested on June 10 at one of his houses on Magodo Estate, Lagos State.
Following his arrest and confessions, a Twitter user with the handle @Diranaire (Diran) had on June 12 posted a tweet, “#FreeEvans #JusticeForEvans. Igbos are being victimised. That’s how deeply some Nigerians are brainwashed.”
Follow the conversation…
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Police IG orders promotion of officers who arrested Billionaire kidnapper, Evans
The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has approved the promotion of police officers who participated in the arrest of Lagos billionaire kidnapper, Evans.
Evans was arrested on Saturday, June 10 in Lagos by officers of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) led by ACP Abba Kyari, while he planned to travel out of the country.
35 operatives from the IRT, 11 from the Technical Intelligence Unit (TIU) and one person from the IGP monitoring section, were involved in the elevation.
In a memo signed by the Commissioner of Police in charge of welfare, Posi Ajunwa, 29 sergeants were promoted to rank of Inspector, while three Corporals were promoted to the rank of Sergeant with effect from June 16, 2017.
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I wanted to kill myself before police arrested me – Billionaire Kidnapper Evans
Chukwudubem Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans said he ran inside his house to commit suicide when he saw policemen at the gate of his Magodo mansion but was pursued and arrested before he could kill himself.
Being overcome by emotion was the least thing anyone would expect from someone, who lived in his own world with a larger than life image. But for notorious kidnap kingpin, Chukwudubem Onwuamadike, aka, Evans, who was arrested last Saturday at his Magodo Estate mansion, Lagos, the end is not just near but had come.
The 36-year-old suspect, who is a native of Akamili in Umudim Quarters, Nnewi, Anambra State, disclosed to Vanguard at the Lagos State Police Command, amidst tears, that he was being humiliated beyond limits, noting that he preferred dying than to continue living in pains.
Evans said he knew the Police would not treat him fairly when he was caught, given the kind of atrocities he committed over the years.
It was based on this assumption that he told Vanguard that he made up his mind to end his life the moment the Police gained access to his house.
He stated that the Police officer who pursued him as he ran into his house when he sighted them at his gate, prevented him from completing his mission.
Regretting that he was not able to end his life that moment, he looked at this reporter and asked: ”What am I living for? When I saw the policemen dash towards me I ran inside. I was not running to escape. I ran to see if I could end it before they could take me. But time was short. They followed me into the room. ”I want the government to train and educate my children.
Not done, he added thus: “I have seen it all, I want to die and have some rest. The only thing I want now is for the government to take care of my children, educate them and don’t allow them to become criminals. I have begged Abba Kyari, to do this for me and he assured me that the Lagos State government would take them to an orphanage home where they would grow to become better persons in the society. I have been diagnosed with Colon Cancer and I wish I could die now”.
Asked about the exact location of his wife and children, Evans said he sent them to Ghana four days before he was arrested, adding that they had planned to relocate to Canada, where he said he wanted his children to school.
He further disclosed that he gave his wife the sum of N20million for her upkeep, stating that he did not know their location at the moment since the day he was arrested.
Evans also revealed that his wife, who he has been married to for 11 years only knew he was a kidnapper a few days before his arrest.
How my wife knew I am a kidnapper
He said: “My wife didn’t know I am a kidnapper. I kept all my kidnapping activities away from her and she thought I made my billions from importation and illicit drug dealings. We didn’t allow visitors to visit our house for any reason. If she must receive any visitor, I usually ask her to take them to a hotel.
Precious pleading on behalf of her husband ”But a few days before I was arrested she discovered I was worried and restless. My blood pressure went very high and she asked what was happening. I opened up to her and also told her that security agents were everywhere looking for me. Initially, I thought it was the Department of State Security, DSS, that was hunting for me.
”I also told her to be very careful with her phones and to be mindful of the people who call her. I also told her to always switch off her mobile phones. While I was still contemplating on what to do, I got information that one of my girlfriends known as Ijeoma had been arrested and taken to SARS, Ikeja. That was when I knew that the people hunting me were policemen.
”I called my second in command, Felix and warned him to be careful that the Police were closing in on us, but before I knew what was happening, I learnt that Felix had been arrested in Ojota.
I sold my cars, stopped my children from going to school
‘’I immediately moved my family out of my house and we relocated to a hotel in Agidingbi Ikeja. My children stopped going to school, then I started making preparation for them to travel to Ghana where I have three houses.
A few days later, I got news again that my younger sister, Nzube had also been arrested by the Police. I heard they were trying to use her to lure me. I then sent words to one of my friends in Nnewi to take my mother to Bayelsa State where I felt locating her will be difficult. Then I sold three of my cars, leaving just a Grand Cherokee SUV.
Four days before my arrest, I sent my wife and children to Ghana and I paid the sum of N20 million to the account of a bureau de change operator in Ghana. She collected the money in Cedi. I was planning to join them the day I was arrested.“
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‘Evans is a good man, his step mum bewitched him’ – Precious, wife of billionaire kidnap kingpin reveals
Uchenna Precious, wife of arrested billionaire kingpin, Chikwudubem Onwuamadike, a.k.a Evans, has said she suspects her husband was bewitched by his stepmother when he was 4-year-old.
Uchenna, who described her husband as a good and generous man, said his stepmother must have done something that led him into crime.
The 31-year-old woman made the revelation when she spoke with Vanguard in reaction to her husband’s arrest and detaintion by men of the Lagos state police command.
She however, pleaded with authorities to release her husband, while begging those he stole their money and kept hostage to forgive since he did not kill anyone.
She said, “I am suspecting that whatever happened to him must have come from his father’s second wife. I don’t know what he did to him when he was young but he told the story.
“He said that after their mother was driven out of the house, he was with his brothers playing outside one day when the second wife called him to pick a bucket and collect water for her.
“He was four years then, he picked the bucket, collected water and when he came back, she removed her dress and she was wearing only a bag made from animal skin on her waist.
“She brought seven small stones from the bag, gave to Evans and ordered him to pour the stones into the bucket to know if the gravel would rise (sail) on top of the water or not.
“Evans said he did as she directed but the only thing the woman did was to take the bucket back and ordered him to go back and play with his brothers. He said he told his father later but he said he was telling lies.
“I feel very bad because I did not know if he was doing all these or not. Even if he was into all these, why did he not stop because of me and his children? All the time when we pray, he used to promise God that he would tell Him his story later in life.
“I am appealing to the powers that be to spare his life (crying), as I speak now, I am kneeling down with my children, crying and begging for forgiveness. Have mercy on us. He did not know what he was doing. He did not know what came over him. I am ready to come back to Nigeria and plead on his behalf. What I am reading in the news is shocking.
“Though, I have not heard that he killed anybody but all those he injured or took their money should please forgive him because me and my children. They should kindly forgive him, he will repent. God knows I will not be alive and see my husband doing bad thing and keep quiet. All his wealth should be sold off and given to his victims.
“Evans is a good man. He takes care of all his relations including the children of the second wife we are suspecting did this to him. He has just two houses in Ghana but I have never seen them. I saw the house on his phone.
“Since I have been living with him, he has never injured anybody or beat me. He has milk of human kindness in his heart. He has not been harsh or wicked to anybody. He always advised us to be prayerful I (starts crying again) and complains bitterly any time I failed to pray. His neighbours also know him as a kind and generous man.”
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Billionaire Kidnapper, Evans used N4.6m anti-tracking phones to frustrate arrest
The Nigerian police have said that information from useful statements made by a younger sister of the kidnap baron, Evans, led to his arrest.
The sister was said to have been arrested after her number was identified as one of the contacts in Evans’ special SIM card.
The kidnapper’s childhood friend and four girlfriends were also picked up by the police and they all gave relevant information.
Police operatives also disclosed that Evans used three phones, two of which reportedly cost N2.4m and N2.6m respectively; with anti-tracking features to frustrate his arrest.
He reportedly contacted families of his victims through the phones to demand ransoms.
Reliable police sources also disclosed that Evans had 126 registered SIM cards.
Evans, who also deals in drugs, was arrested on Saturday in one of his two mansions on Magodo Estate, Lagos.
He was said to have bought three houses in Accra, Ghana and wristwatches worth thousands of dollars from the proceeds of the crimes.
Five AK-47 rifles, one AK-49 rifle, two English pistols, 59 AK-47 magazine with ammunition, 1,272 pieces of live ammunition of AK-47 (9mm) and five number plates were reportedly recovered.
“He has 11 phones. Two of them are special Virtu phones, which are very difficult to track. He also has a Turaya, which is a satellite phone. It can be used anywhere, including in the bush, on the sea, and desert, where there are no GSM service. In Nigeria, we don’t have the capability to track Turaya.
“He said he bought the Virtu phones N4.6m. He used the three phones for his nefarious activities. We succeeded in tracking him through the other phones he has.” A police source told Punch.
A detective stated that a number of SIM cards used by Evans complicated the challenges posed by the sophisticated phones, adding that he bought the SIM cards registered from miscreants in Computer Village, Ikeja.
He said, “We studied and analysed 126 SIM cards before we caught him. We have about two-page analysis of each of the numbers. He used 125 of those numbers to call his gang members only and used one to call his mother, wife and sister. He said he bought all the SIM cards already registered in Computer Village for N1,500 each.
“We picked his sister, his childhood friend with whom he attended primary school, and four of his girlfriends. They gave us the information that led to his arrest. Evans confirmed that they didn’t know he was into kidnapping. Because of that, we granted them bail, while investigations continue.”
The Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, said the suspect would soon be arraigned in court.
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Evans weeps in cell over his detention with common criminals
Arrested kidnap kingpin, Chukwudemeje George Onwuamadike, also known as Evans has been sobbing over his detention with ‘common poor criminals’, in police cell, The Guardian investigation has revealed.
Evans, it was gathered, has yet to come to terms with his ordeal.
The kingpin, who was arrested last Saturday at his 3, Fred Shoboyede Street, Magodo, Lagos home, is being kept in a maximum security cell with “common criminals”.
Recall that Nigeria Police on Sunday afternoon paraded the man regarded as Nigeria’s richest kidnapper and his deadly gang.
Jimoh Moshood, Force spokesman in a statement, revealed how they seized their victims, kept them and demanded for ransom.
He also gave timelines of some of the gang’s activities and how they made a staggering $5million dollars from 4 victims, aside other millions of Naira.
In police cell, Evans has been crying profusely and has also made more revelations to interrogators.
Evans disclosed that he has two other detention camps in Lagos.
He was also said to have confessed that he started off as an armed robber in Sokoto State.
“He has been weeping uncontrollably because he is in a cell with common poor criminals despite all the wealth and mansions he owned”, a police source told Nation.
“He has started talking. He has given us locations of other detention camps he had in Lagos.
“Aside Igando, he had two others and detectives would visit the place. He also said that his very first robbery was in Sokoto State and that they killed the victim.
“He is still being interrogated and more details would come out after the camps have been visited.”
Meanwhile, his Nnewi people in Anambra are still angry over the terror he unleashed on wealthy indigenes, as his victims were mostly from the state.
His second in command, Felix Chinemerem, a native of Amanagu in Abia State, was also declared wanted in 2014, after his criminal activities led to the killing of many innocent people.
Chinemerem took part in the kidnap of a prominent Nigerian, which prompted policemen to storm the community and allegedly shot randomly, killing villagers.
He has not been seen or heard from in many months.
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‘Give my son second chance,’ father of kidnap kingpin, Evans begs Govt
Father of the billionaire kidnapper and drug trafficker recently arrested by the Inspector General of Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Chukwudi Dumeme Onwuamadike, otherwise known as Evans, Stephen Onwuamadike, has pleaded with the police to forgive his son as he was misled into a life of crime by his mother.
The older Onwuamadike who lamented that he did not know that his son was living in ill-gotten affluence in Lagos while he wallowed in poverty in the village, said he was shocked when he saw his son being paraded on the television after his arrest.
The old man said the last time he saw Evans was in 2008 and had warned him to desist from crime and had no idea that his son had come into so much wealth albeit acquired illegally.
Onwuamadike who lives in his country home at Akammili, Umudim, Nnewi Local Government Area of Anambra State, made these fresh statements in an interview with New Telegraph said that he tried his best to raise Evans by sending him to the best schools around but insisted that it was when his mother left him when he was three-years-old, that she started manipulating him which culminated into his becoming a crime kingpin.
In the interaction, the father said he used to be very wealthy but Evans’ mother led to his downfall and she left him with nothing, taking along the young child with her.
His current wife and her son also accused Evans’ mother of being the person behind Evans’ predicament, painting him as a good and loving son who was only under the influence of his mother.
“I am begging the Federal Government to forgive Evans and give him another chance. I have not been able to sleep since I received the phone call informing me that my son has been arrested.
My son is a good boy, but his mother misled him. She manipulated him spiritually. I was devastated when I heard the news through a telephone call; since that call, I had not been able to sleep.
I believe in a straight forward and honest life. If I noticed someone is not honest, I run away from the person. When my business was thriving, I did business with white people.
Evans the kidnap kingpin was given an hero’s welcome at the police headquarters.
I was one of the early millionaires that emerged from this town until things went wrong courtesy of my first wife in 1985. She caused me so many problems and eventually caused my financial ruins.
In fact, she brought me down to where I am today. I’m suffering and I can barely put food on my table.
I tried to raise my son well and send to good schools but my estranged wife kept interfering in his academics.
You won’t believe that my son, Chukwudumeje (Evans) has not visited home since 2008. The last time I saw him was 10 years ago. I asked him the sort of business he was into. He said he was into drug trafficking.
I advised him to desist because it was an illicit business and the law was against it. I told him plainly that it was better to be involved in a legitimate business and wait for God’s blessings.
I did good business and it thrived; I was very successful. I have traveled to so many countries of the world in the course of my business.
His mother started manipulating him when he was only three years old; look at where it has got him. I don’t even have his phone number.
I’m pleading with the Nigerian authorities to have mercy on him and give him a second chance. He was misdirected and misled by his mother.
I heard about all the millions, and I said to myself; so I have such manner of a rich son and the roof over my house is leaking? I now survive by selling pigs.”
playEvans’ stepbrother, Chidolie Onwuamadike who also spoke, said his brother’s ruin was caused by his mother, noting that if Evans had followed their father’s advice, he wouldn’t have become a criminal.
“As brothers, we don’t even interact at all. I don’t have his number and my heart is pained because he is such a loving, nice guy from the little I know of him.”
Evans’ mother, Etty Onwuamadike, while speaking, tearfully pleaded with the government to give her son a second chance:
“Chukwudumeje was a nice boy when he lived with me.The only gift I gave him years back was the Holy Bible. I don’t want my son to die. I’m still convinced he will serve God.”