A Ikeja High Court on Friday sentenced kidnapping kingpin Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, to life in prison for the kidnapping of Donatus Dunu, chief executive of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that Judge Hakeem Oshodi also sentenced Evans’ two co-defendants, Uche Amadi and Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, to life in prison for the same offences.
The judge, however, acquitted and acquitted the other co-defendants, Ogechi Uchechukwu; Chilaka Ifeanyi, former soldier; and Victor Aduba, also a former soldier.
The judge held that there was no evidence linking them to the crimes.
In sentencing the convicts, Oshodi said they showed no remorse for their crimes and had tried to “lie their way out of charges” during the trial.
Mr. Oshodi noted that the Lagos State Kidnapping Prohibition Law prescribed a mandatory life sentence for anyone found guilty of kidnapping.
Billionaire kidnapper, Evans
“A lesson must be taught. In this sense, the law is the law that must be respected.
“The first, second and fourth defendants, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, also known as Evans, Uche Amadi and Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, are sentenced to life in prison.
“This is the sentence of the court,” he said.
NAN reports that this is the first sentence handed down in the five kidnapping trials that Evans faces in the different high courts of Lagos state.
The defendants appeared before Oshodi on August 31, 2017 on a two-count count of conspiracy and kidnapping.
According to the prosecution, Mr. Dunu was abducted on February 14, 2016 from Obokun Street, Ilupeju Road, Lagos.
He was chained and blindfolded during his 88-day ordeal, with prisoners collecting €223,000 in ransom from his family for his release.
The prosecution closed their case on January 10, 2020, after presenting four witnesses, including Mr. Dunu.
The defense closed its case on August 3, 2021, after all six defendants and Evans’ sister, Ndubuisi Obiechina, testified.
The offenses violate Section 2(1) of the Kidnapping Prohibition Act, No. 13, Laws of the Lagos State, 2017. (NAN)