Evans vanishes

* Billionaire kidnapper’s whereabouts unknown
* Moved out of Lagos midnight by 30 heavily armed men

After weeks of public furore and media frenzy, a sudden blackout
has descended on the case of Chukwuduneme Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans,
Nigeria’s infamous billionaire kidnapper, thus fuelling
speculations that he’s escaped, or dead.

Saturday Sun has however gathered that Evans is not dead as his
family now fears but has been moved from the Lagos police command
headquarters cell by about 30 heavily armed men at midnight few
days ago to an undisclosed destination. Some senior police officers
in the know told Saturday Sun he was moved to Abuja.

Indeed, in the last few days, a palpable silence seemed to have
enshrouded the Evans phenomenon. Where is Evans? It is a question
the police is not prepared to officially answer right now. A man
who hitherto divulged the details of his criminal life to the
public almost on a daily basis is suddenly no longer accessible to
even the press corps.

All a Saturday Sun reporter who visited the state police command
was told was that Evans is no longer allowed to talk to the press
till further notice. The secrecy surrounding his whereabouts in the
official quarters baffles those who have closely followed his story
since his arrest.

After days of sniffing around the Lagos police formations to get
information on Evans whereabouts, it was gathered that the kidnap
kingpin had been moved out of the Lagos command headquarters days
ago by heavily armed policemen and is yet to be returned.

Police had last week said they had got a court order to detain
him for three months to give them enough time to complete their
investigation. This followed two suits filed by Evans lawyer,
Olukoya Ogungbeje, at the High Court seeking his release and
claiming N300m damages from the police.

Some senior police officers who spoke to Saturday Sun on
condition of anonymity expressed fears that Evans might not make it
to the court. They argued that he might plot his escape from
prison, or get across to some of his members who are still on the
run. Their concerns are not farfetched, given that several inmates
in the past had reportedly committed much heinous crimes even while
in prison.

Some of the officers confirmed that Evans was no longer in the
police cell in Lagos. “He has not been returned since he was moved
out. Evans is a broken man; police can’t resort to extra-judicial
killings at this point. He is cooperating, and he is ready to help
return all his ill-gotten wealth as soon as possible”, one of the
officers said.

Another reliable source at the police command told Saturday Sun
“Evans is not an ordinary criminal. I guess that they took him out
for further investigation but I don’t know why they are yet to
return him to his cell.” The source further assured: “No one is
planning to kill Evans. I believe that they will return him later.
He could be in any good cell in the state for security reasons, but
I can assure you that he is not dead yet.

Even if anything happens to him, if he dies in custody, it will
be as a result of cancer which he claims he is suffering from.”
Yet another senior police officer who preferred anonymity assured
that Evans is okay. “He is okay and seriously cooperating with the
police in its investigation. From the look of things, he might not
spend up to three months in detention before he’s charged to court.
As for his location, I assure you that he is in a protective
custody somewhere out of town.” The officer who reinforced fears
within the police circle, said that “a criminal is always a
criminal,” adding that, “with the number of robbery cases and
kidnappings to his credit, he is well known among criminals.”

He told our reporter “Within the short period that he spent in
our cell, he is already controlling inmates in the cell. They fear
and respect him; we do not want to run the risk of allowing him to
form another notorious group which is common amongst them.”

On why his family is yet to get access to him, the officer said
that they are yet to approach the police. “A lot of his family
members benefitted from his ill-gotten wealth, so they are afraid
to come close to the police station.

Evans confirmed that he bought a car for his father and also
gave him N3m. The police will recover such money and
properties.

We will soon get a warrant to pick his father up and possibly
his mother, who also benefitted.”

Calls and text messages to both the Lagos Police Spokesman,
Olarinde Famous-Cole and the Force PRO, Moshood Jimoh on the
official position of the Police on Evans’ whereabouts were neither
answered nor responded to as at 10pm yesterday.

Saturday Sun:

* Billionaire kidnapper’s whereabouts unknown
* Moved out of Lagos midnight by 30 heavily armed men

After weeks of public furore and media frenzy, a sudden blackout
has descended on the case of Chukwuduneme Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans,
Nigeria’s infamous billionaire kidnapper, thus fuelling
speculations that he’s escaped, or dead.

Saturday Sun has however gathered that Evans is not dead as his
family now fears but has been moved from the Lagos police command
headquarters cell by about 30 heavily armed men at midnight few
days ago to an undisclosed destination. Some senior police officers
in the know told Saturday Sun he was moved to Abuja.

Indeed, in the last few days, a palpable silence seemed to have
enshrouded the Evans phenomenon. Where is Evans? It is a question
the police is not prepared to officially answer right now. A man
who hitherto divulged the details of his criminal life to the
public almost on a daily basis is suddenly no longer accessible to
even the press corps.

All a Saturday Sun reporter who visited the state police command
was told was that Evans is no longer allowed to talk to the press
till further notice. The secrecy surrounding his whereabouts in the
official quarters baffles those who have closely followed his story
since his arrest.

After days of sniffing around the Lagos police formations to get
information on Evans whereabouts, it was gathered that the kidnap
kingpin had been moved out of the Lagos command headquarters days
ago by heavily armed policemen and is yet to be returned.

Police had last week said they had got a court order to detain
him for three months to give them enough time to complete their
investigation. This followed two suits filed by Evans lawyer,
Olukoya Ogungbeje, at the High Court seeking his release and
claiming N300m damages from the police.

Some senior police officers who spoke to Saturday Sun on
condition of anonymity expressed fears that Evans might not make it
to the court. They argued that he might plot his escape from
prison, or get across to some of his members who are still on the
run. Their concerns are not farfetched, given that several inmates
in the past had reportedly committed much heinous crimes even while
in prison.

Some of the officers confirmed that Evans was no longer in the
police cell in Lagos. “He has not been returned since he was moved
out. Evans is a broken man; police can’t resort to extra-judicial
killings at this point. He is cooperating, and he is ready to help
return all his ill-gotten wealth as soon as possible”, one of the
officers said.

Another reliable source at the police command told Saturday Sun
“Evans is not an ordinary criminal. I guess that they took him out
for further investigation but I don’t know why they are yet to
return him to his cell.” The source further assured: “No one is
planning to kill Evans. I believe that they will return him later.
He could be in any good cell in the state for security reasons, but
I can assure you that he is not dead yet.

Even if anything happens to him, if he dies in custody, it will
be as a result of cancer which he claims he is suffering from.”
Yet another senior police officer who preferred anonymity assured
that Evans is okay. “He is okay and seriously cooperating with the
police in its investigation. From the look of things, he might not
spend up to three months in detention before he’s charged to court.
As for his location, I assure you that he is in a protective
custody somewhere out of town.” The officer who reinforced fears
within the police circle, said that “a criminal is always a
criminal,” adding that, “with the number of robbery cases and
kidnappings to his credit, he is well known among criminals.”

He told our reporter “Within the short period that he spent in
our cell, he is already controlling inmates in the cell. They fear
and respect him; we do not want to run the risk of allowing him to
form another notorious group which is common amongst them.”

On why his family is yet to get access to him, the officer said
that they are yet to approach the police. “A lot of his family
members benefitted from his ill-gotten wealth, so they are afraid
to come close to the police station.

Evans confirmed that he bought a car for his father and also
gave him N3m. The police will recover such money and
properties.

We will soon get a warrant to pick his father up and possibly
his mother, who also benefitted.”

Calls and text messages to both the Lagos Police Spokesman,
Olarinde Famous-Cole and the Force PRO, Moshood Jimoh on the
official position of the Police on Evans’ whereabouts were neither
answered nor responded to as at 10pm yesterday.

Saturday Sun: