A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja has reserved judgment for February 25, 2022, in the case of alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, who is facing charges alongside five others.
Evans’ co-defendants are Uche Amadi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chikwa Ifeanyi and Victor Aduba.
They have been standing trial since 2017 on charges of conspiracy and kidnapping.
One of the allegations against them was that they kidnapped the Managing Director of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Mr Donatus Dunu, on February 14, 2017.
Justice Hakeem Oshodi fixed judgment date on Friday after entertaining final written addressed by the prosecution and defence.
Evans’s counsel, Mr Victor Opara (SAN), while making his oral submission, asked the court to discharge and acquit Evans of the two counts pressed against him.
The SAN argued that the prosecution failed to link his client to the alleged crime.
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Opara argued that Dunu, who was said to be blindfolded throughout his 88-day ordeal in kidnappers’den, did not physically identify Evans as one of his abductors.
“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,” Opara said.
But the lead prosecution counsel, Mr Adebayo Haroun, maintained that the charges had been proven and urged the court to convict Evans and others as charged.
Haroun said, “When a man has confessed to a crime, you do not need an identification parade.
“There is direct evidence of PW2 (Dunu) testifying about how he was kidnapped, how he escaped and the roles the defendants each 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.”
The judge, after listening to the two sides, fixed February 25, 2022 for judgment.
