A Lagos High Court, chaired by Olukayode Ogunjobi, on Wednesday ordered convicted kidnapping kingpin Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike (also known as Evans) to repay 233,000 euros he collected as a ransom from his victim, Donatus Dunu. The judge also ordered the convict to pay N50 million to Mr. Dunu as general damages.
Evans and his gang kidnapped Mr. Dunu, a pharmacist, on February 14, 2017 and held him hostage before he managed to escape.
After his escape, Mr. Dunu, CEO of Maydon Pharmaceutical Company, filed suit No: LD/5243GCM/2018 demanding the refund of the €223,000 he paid as ransom while in the custody of the kidnapping kingpin.
He also demanded N50 million as damages.
In his testimony in court, the plaintiff added that the defendant asked him to order his brothers, Anslem Dunu and Innocent Dunu, to pay the ransom.
The pharmacist claimed the €233,000 was paid, but Onwuamadike refused to release him, but he eventually escaped captivity.
Mr. Dunu’s brother, Anslem, also testified and said that on February 14, 2017, another brother of his, Innocent Dunu, informed him that the applicant had been kidnapped.
Anslem told the court that on February 15, 2017, one day after Mr. Dunu’s kidnapping, he spoke to the plaintiff on the phone and ordered him to pay his kidnappers 100 million naira as a ransom for his release.
He claimed that the kidnappers then demanded one million euros.
Anslem added that it was one of his relatives, a certain Uchenna Okagwu, who gave the sum of 233,000 euros to the kidnappers.
The witness was not questioned.
In his defense, Evans maintained that the strength of the plaintiff’s case rested primarily on the criminal trial against him and others in Complaint No. 1D/5970C/2017.
The defendant also claimed that the only evidence before the court regarding the payment of the 233,000 euros was the evidence of Okagwu, who allegedly delivered the money to the kidnappers.
It added that in the criminal trial for Trial No. 1D/5970C/2017, Okagwu stated that he dropped said sum on the ground and fled and that he did not see anyone or hand over the money to anyone.
He argued that the evidence of Okagwu, who delivered said ransom to the kidnappers, was the only direct evidence and must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
According to the defendant, the judgment handed down by Judge OH Oshodi on February 25, 2022 is now appealed to the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division.
In his sentencing on Wednesday, Judge Ogunjobi held that the defendant gave inconsistent evidence and could not be recognized as a witness to the truth.
“It is established law that no witness who gives materially inconsistent evidence under oath is entitled to the honor of being accorded any credibility and does not deserve to be treated as a truthful witness.
“In addition to adducing contradictory evidence under oath, I observed the defendant’s behavior on the witness stand while testifying and came to the conclusion that the defendant is not a witness for the truth.
“I accept the indisputable and uncontroversial evidence of the plaintiff and his witnesses. Their evidence is consistent with the relief sought.
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“Accordingly, the plaintiff is entitled to be reimbursed and/or recovered from the defendant, €233,000 in ransom coercively paid by the plaintiff to the defendant when the defendant kidnapped him in 2017 and held him hostage for months.
“The sum of N50 million is awarded as general damages in favor of the claimant.
“Post-judgment interest is also awarded on said sum of €233,000 at a rate of 10 percent per annum from the day of trial until final settlement,” Judge Ogunjobi stated.
The adjudicator ruled that the sum must be paid or recovered from the defendant’s property.
(YAYA)