An Ikeja High Court has sentenced Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike aka Evans and two of his accomplices; Uche Amadi, and Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, to life imprisonment for criminal conspiracy and kidnapping.
Justice Hakeem Oshodi, who gave the ruling, found the trio guilty of a two-count charge of kidnapping the Managing Director of Maydon Pharmaceuticals Limited, Donatus Dunu.
He said there was overwhelming evidence to prove the case against them.
Justice Hakeem Oshodi, said, “none of the three convicts showed any remorse to the crimes but tried to lie their way out.
“The law is the law and must be upheld. The maximum sentence for the crime of kidnapping in Lagos state is life imprisonment, and the court has no powers to exercise its discretion in this regard,” the judge remarked.
The judge also acknowledged the “harrowing experience” of the victim, Donatus Duru, who spent 88 days in captivity, was shackled and blindfolded, until he was able to escape.
The prosecution had told the court that the incident took place at about 7:45 pm, along Obokun Street, Ilupeju, Lagos.
The Prosecuting counsel disclosed that on April 12, Evans alongside the other five defendants while armed with guns and other weapons captured, detained and collected a ransom of 223,000 Euros from Donatus for his release.
The Lagos State government had arraigned them before the court on August 30, 2017 Section 155 subsection 1 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2017, carries life imprisonment.
In all, the prosecution presented four witnesses, including the victim, Dunu while the defence presented six witnesses including Evans who testified in his own defence.
The judge, however, discharged and acquitted the other co-defendants, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, an ex-soldier; and Victor Aduba, also an ex-soldier.
He held that there was no evidence linking them to the crimes.
The state had claimed that the convicts committed the alleged offence between February 14 and April 12, 2017.
