*BILLIONAIRE KIDNAPPER EVANS VANISHES FROM POLICE CELL*


•Suspected billionaire kidnapper Chukwuduneme
Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans.
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 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 on the 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 Saturday Sun: “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.