Evans to face trial in Lagos before relocation to Abuja

…AS PANIC GRIPS KIDNAP VICTIMS…
…Police keep Evans in secret cell in Abuja
…IG, top officers to interrogate him at Force Headquarters
…Detectives on the trail of fleeing accomplices

…More kidnappers will fall — Adeboye
BY EMMA NNADOZIE, CRIME EDITOR, Kingsley Omonobi, Abuja, Sam Eyoboka and Olayinka Latona
Kidnap kingpin, Chukwudidumeme Onuamadike, also know as Evans, is cooling his feet in a secret cell at Louise Edet House, Police Force Headquarters, in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja; and this is authoritative.
Sunday Vanguard investigations, as well as information provided by our usually very dependable sources, revealed that the relocation of Evans to Abuja was on the express instructions of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.
The tactical manoeuvre was carried out by the IGP’s Special Squad and was not known to many.
It was the very classified nature of the operation to relocate Evans to Force Headquarters, Abuja, that gave rise to the wild and wide speculation that the gangster had vanished.
Consequently, the false alarm created panic in most of Evans’ victims.
In fact, Sunday Vanguard telephone lines were almost jammed as calls poured in from kidnap victims seeking assistance on what next to do as they claimed that their lives were in danger, following the purported vanishing of Evans.
Evans at one of the houses (Dens) in Ejigbo
IGP orders relocation
His relocation to Abuja, sources hinted, is with a view to ensuring that the Inspector-General of Police and the management team of the Force, personally interrogate the kidnap kingpin.
The objective, we were made to understand, is to get more information relating to his exploits in the criminal world.
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Vanguard had exclusively suggested, two weeks ago, that the suspect was slated for movement to the Force Headquarters, Abuja, to interact with police chiefs.
Police sources disclosed that his relocation to Abuja is a temporary measure aimed at ensuring water-tight interrogation pursuant to establishing a solid case against the suspect.
These are all efforts geared towards conducting a successful prosecution in court.
Indeed, the police, yesterday, frowned at the report which tended to create the impression that Evans had disappeared from custody.
In a statement, Ref No. CZ:5300/FPRD/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.1, reacting to the report, the Force Headquarters said:
“RE – EVANS VANISHES, BILLIONAIRE KIDNAPPER’S WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN
“Evans is intact in Police Custody, investigation into all the crimes he has committed which include several kidnappings; armed robbery and murder are ongoing. The Police have made significant progress in the investigations of these crimes.
“The public should disregard and discountenance all media reports in the social and print media that he has vanished or released and all criminal charges against him dropped as UNTRUE and ABSOLUTE FALSEHOOD.
“Evans is in police custody and would be arraigned in court along with other members of his gang on completion of investigation. “
The statement was signed by Force PRO, CSP Jimoh Moshood
Shock and panic
Sources had earlier told Sunday Vanguard that members of the public could not have expected the police to disclose their method of investigation.
“So, we are expected to broadcast every where we are taking him to for
further investigation? Do you know if we are taking him to identify his hide outs in different parts of the country or to identify his suspected high profile accomplices that are scattered all over the country”, one of the sources said.
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“Let me tell you, after we arrested Evans, and he started opening up, most of his accomplices have been on the run and detectives are seriously on their trail. If we need Evans to personally take us to Owerri, for example, to identify the hideouts of his gang and authenticate investigations, should it be announced publicly?
“Evans is with us, cooling his head in one of our safest cells in Abuja. At the appropriate time, we will bring him to Lagos to face the law court. That is when all these rumour-mongering will stop.”
Sunday Vanguard also discovered that even members of the IGP’s Intelligence Response Team, IRT, in Lagos, were not aware of the directives for Evans’ re-location to Force headquarters, Abuja.
Furthermore, it was gathered that his continued stay in the police cell in Lagos, where nosy reporters were having a field day, sneaking in to confront him, rattled police authorities and they decided on a “ discreet, well-coordinated and thoroughly investigated case” against the suspect, aimed at making him pay for his crime.
Meanwhile, panic has gripped many of Evan’s kidnap victims who are afraid of the unknown since unconfirmed reports said he had vanished. It took the intervention of Vanguard Crime Editor to calm their nerves. One of them,who confided in Sunday Vanguard over the shoddy handling of the Evan’s story, expressed his readiness to go on exile if the story of his excape turned up to be true. They, however, expressed optimism that police authorities should not leave any stone unturned to bring the suspect to book.
When he was arrested, Evans, aged 36, and who hails from Umudim Village, Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State, was said to be wearing a wrist-watch valued at $117, 000 and was also discovered to be in possession of and using over 100 telephone SIM cards of various network providers for his nefarious operations.
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More kidnappers will fall – Adeboye
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, has renewed his holy war against kidnappers and those he described as making life difficult for the common man.
Before his message, titled, ABBA FATHER 6, at the July edition of the church’s monthly Holy Ghost Service, Adeboye said his focus would be prosperity, stressing, however, that he did not fall into the category of prosperity preachers.
Nine days after Adeboye declared holy war on kidnappers and herdsmen killing people across the nation, suspected kidnapping kingpin, Chukwudubem George Onwuamadike, aka Evans, and some of his gang members were arrested in Lagos.
Visibly still angry at the continued activities of kidnappers across the country, the pastor, at last Friday’s programme, urged the mammoth crowd to pray: “Father, not just the kingpins, root out every kidnapper in every part of the country.”
On prosperity preaching, he said: “Some are called prosperity preachers because they always preach about prosperity; some are called faith preachers because they focus on faith.
“Some are called grace preachers because they focus on grace. Very few are called holiness preachers. Which group do you think I belong: ‘Holiness preacher.’”