An Ikeja High Court on Friday sentenced kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, to life imprisonment for the kidnap of Donatus Dunu, the Chief Executive Officer of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Hakeem Oshodi also sentenced Evans’s two co-defendants, Uche Amadi and Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, to life imprisonment for the same offences.
The judge, however, discharged and acquitted the other co-defendants, Ogechi Uchechukwu; Chilaka Ifeanyi, an ex-soldier; and Victor Aduba, also an ex-soldier.
The judge held that there was no evidence linking them to the crimes.
Sentencing the convicts, Mr Oshodi said that they did not show any remorse for their crimes and had tried to “lie their way out of the charges” during the trial.
Mr Oshodi noted that the Kidnapping Prohibition Law of Lagos State prescribed a mandatory life sentence for any individual found guilty of kidnapping.
“A lesson must be taught. In this respect, the law is the law that must be upheld.
“The first, second and fourth defendants- Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike a.k.a Evans, Uche Amadi and Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, are each hereby sentenced to life imprisonment.
“This is the sentence of the court,” he said.
NAN reports that this is the first judgment delivered in the five kidnapping trials Evans is facing at the various High Courts of Lagos State.
The defendants were arraigned before Oshodi on August 31, 2017, on a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping.
According to the prosecution, Mr Dunu was kidnapped on February 14, 2016, on Obokun Street, Ilupeju Road, Lagos.
He was shackled and blindfolded during his 88-day ordeal, and the convicts collected 223,000 euros as ransom from his family for his release.
The prosecution closed its case on January 10, 2020, after presenting four witnesses including Mr Dunu.
The defence closed its case on August 3, 2021, after the six defendants and Evans’s sister, Ndubuisi Obiechina, testified.
The offences are in violation of Section 2(1) of the Kidnapping Prohibition Law, No. 13, Laws of Lagos State, 2017.
(NAN)