The Lagos State Government has re-arraigned convicted billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, before a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja over the alleged murder of two police officers.
Evans appeared in court on Monday alongside his co-defendant, Joseph Emeka, where they were charged with a five-count information bordering on murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty when the charges were read before Justice A. O. Ogala.
Evans, who was arrested in 2017, is currently facing five separate criminal cases involving kidnapping and murder and has already been convicted in two of the cases.
Before his arrest, Evans was described as one of Nigeria’s most wanted and notorious kidnappers, allegedly responsible for several high-profile abductions involving foreign nationals, traditional rulers, and wealthy businessmen.
Police investigations revealed that he operated with two distinct gangs — one responsible for carrying out the abductions and another tasked with transporting victims to different safe houses across Lagos and the South-East.
In August 2017, he was first arraigned before the Ikeja High Court alongside five others — Uche Amadi, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, and Victor Aduba — for the kidnapping of Donatus Dunu, CEO of Maydon Pharmaceutical Ltd.
Evans initially pleaded guilty and was remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Prison, but in 2021, he recanted, claiming he was forced by police to confess and denying his identity as “Evans.”
In 2022, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in one kidnapping case and 21 years imprisonment in another.
