Court Orders Evans To Pay Kidnap Victim €233,000, N50m

Mary Ugwuanyi

Billionaire kidnap mastermind, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, was on Tuesday ordered by a Lagos State High Court at Tafawa Balewa Square to refund the sum of €233,000, he received as ransom from one of his kidnap victims, Chief Donatus Dunu.

Justice Olukayode Ogunjobi, also mandated Evans to pay the sum of N50m as general damages in favour of the claimant.  

The victim, a pharmacist, was abducted on February 14, 2018, and held hostage with ransom collected from his family, he escaped from where he was held.

Dunu, a Chief Executive Officer of Maydon Pharmaceutical Company, later filed a civil suit, praying the court to order Evans to return to him the €233,000, paid in ransom.

The claimant asked for an additional N50m in general damages.

But Evans in his defence argued that the claimant’s case was based mainly on the criminal charge, marked 1D/5970C/2017 filed against him and others.

Evans said during his criminal trial, a witness, one Okagwu, said he delivered the   €233,000 ransom by dropping it on the ground and fled thereafter.

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He said though he was convicted, the matter had gone on appeal.

Delivering judgement, Justice Ogunjobi said Evans’ evidence was inconsistent evidence.

Justice Ogunjobi held, “Aside adducing conflicting pieces of evidence on oath, I have watched the demeanour of the defendant in the witness box when giving evidence and came to the conclusion that the defendant is not a witness of truth. I do not believe his evidence. I accept the unchallenged and uncontroverted evidence of the claimant and his witnesses. The evidence support the reliefs sought by the claimant.

“Consequently, the claimant is entitled to be paid or repaid and or recover from the defendant, the sum of   €233,000 ransom coercively paid by the claimant to defendant when the defendant kidnapped the claimant in the year 2017 and held the claimant hostage for months.”

Source: Punch

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