An Ikeja High Court has found kidnap kingpin, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike (alias Evans), guilty of kidnap and sentenced him to life in jail.
He was found guilty of the kidnap of Mr Donatius Dunu, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
In a three-hour judgment on Friday, Justice Hakeem Oshodi also convicted two of Evans’s co-defendants, Uche Amadi and Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, and gave them same sentence.
Oshodi found the three persons guilty of conspiracy and kidnapping.
The judge, however, discharged and acquitted the other co-defendants, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, an ex-soldier; and Victor Aduba, also an ex-soldier.
He held that there was no evidence linking them to the crimes.
The judge also held that the prosecution had successfully proved the charge against the three convicts beyond reasonable doubt.
In reaching his verdict on Evans, the judge held that he observed the demeanour of the witness, stating 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,” Justice Oshodi said.
“He showed no remorse in the dock and tried to lie his way out of the crimes despite the video evidence.”
He concluded that the evidence tendered before the court, especially their video confessions corroborated their guilt.
The Lagos State government had arraigned Evans along with 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 offence between February 14 and April 12, 2017.
The prosecution further told the court that the incident took place at about 7:45 pm, along Obokun Street, in the Ilupeju area of Lagos.
The prosecuting counsel told the court that on April 12, Evans and 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.
As of the time of this report, Justice Oshodi has yet to sentence the convicts as the proceedings are still ongoing.
Evans is also facing similar charges before Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo and Justice Adedayo Akintoye of the same court.