The suspected millionaire kidnapper, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, commonly known as Evans, and five others charged with conspiracy and kidnapping will be sentenced on February 25, 2022, by the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja.
After counsel for Evans and his co-defendants argued and adopted their final written addresses on Friday, Justice Hakeem Oshodi set the date.
This comes after the culprit and his accomplices were caught in June 2017 after being wanted for almost four years.
Evans, together with Uche Amadi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, and Victor Aduba, were charged with kidnapping Donatus Dunu, the Managing Director of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Limited, on February 14, 2017.
Evans is also facing identical allegations before the same court’s Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo and Justice Adedayo Akintoye. All of the accused, however, have pled not guilty to the accusations.
Evans’ lawyer, Victor Opara, begged the court to discharge and acquit his client of the offenses during his last written address.
He claimed that there was no direct evidence linking Evans to the alleged crimes, and that the purported victim of the offenses did not identify the defendant as the criminal.
“The victim said he was blindfolded throughout his 88-day ordeal, he did not state to the court in his testimony that he could physically identify Evans,” he said.
“There is also the fatality of the prosecution’s case that there was no identification parade to identify the first defendant (Evans).
“There was no evidence before your lordship to show that PW2 (Dunu) had a clear opportunity of identifying the first defendant.”
However, the prosecutor, Adebayo Haroun, urged the court to find the defendants guilty as charged. “when a man has confessed to a crime, you do not need an identification parade”.
“There is direct evidence of PW2 (Dunu) testifying of how he was kidnapped, how he escaped, and the roles each of the defendants played.
“We have circumstantial evidence linking the first defendant (Evans) to the crime, and we also have confessional statements and video recordings of him. We urge your lordship to convict the defendants as charged,” he added.
The prosecution had alleged that Dunu was kidnapped on Ilupeju Road in Lagos State and the defendants collected €223,000 as ransom from his family.
It closed its case against the defendants on January 10, 2020, after presenting four witnesses, including Dunu.
The defense, on the other hand, closed its case on August 3, 2020, after the six defendants testified.
