An abduction carried out by his gang on February 14 this
year had paved way for his demystification. On that day, which coincidentally
was celebrated all over the world as St. Valentine’s Day otherwise known as
lovers day, a pharmacist and the owner of Maydon Pharmaceutical Company, Ilupeju,
Lagos, Mr. Donatus Dunu, was abducted by Evans’ gang. Dunu had barely left his
office in the evening when he was blocked by a vehicle. Before he knew it,
Evans’ gun-wielding men had stepped out of the vehicle and bundled the
pharmacist into their vehicle and sped off to No 21, Prophet Asaye Close, New
Igando, a Lagos suburb where he was kept for three months.
Evans subsequently demanded the payment of a sum of one
million euros as ransom. Despite efforts to make Evans see reason and reduce
the money, he would have none of it, even after a sum of N100 million had been
paid to him. It was either the money was paid or Dunu paid with his life.
While looking for the money, Dunu’s wife, who is also a
director of the company, staff members organized prayers for the safe return of
their boss. One of the workers said: “We did not only pray but engaged in
fasting too. Who will not pray and fast if his or her boss was in such
condition? It was really traumatic for us.”
Police parade kidnappers including Evans
Unknown to Dunu’s wife and his workers, the person who
gave the information leading to Dunu’s abduction was one of the staff members
of the company, identified as Emeka, who was employed about five years ago.
At the gang’s den in New Igando, where Dunu was kept, he
had given up hope on the possibility of regaining his freedom. But he had a big
break in the early hours of Friday, May 12, 2017, while his captors were deep
in sleep. Despite losing his weight, Dunu managed to wriggle out of the
leg-cuff he was held with. He was only wearing a pair of shorts and white
singlet. A perimeter fence with broken bottles was to become a major obstacle
to his escape, but the victim used his bare hand to maneuver the shattered
bottles and climbed his way to freedom.
It was learnt that when he landed into an adjoining
building, he was mistaken for a fleeing robber or cultist. Security guards
raised the alarm which attracted neighbors to the scene and it was providence
that saved him from being lynched by a mob.
One of the security guards who asked not to be named
said: “I just came to my duty post that day when I started hearing the shout of
‘thief! Thief!’ I came out and saw this fair-complexioned man running towards
me. I stopped him near that mini- tanker (he pointed at a decrepit stationary
tanker). He was wearing only his boxer with his white singlet placed on his
shoulder. There was fear in his eyes and he looked sick and traumatized. His
body was blood-stained and there were injuries on his legs probably because he
had been cuffed on his legs for a long time.
“Some people were unwilling to listen to him and they
wanted to take him away. I said no, they should leave him here and instead call
the elders of the community. I took him to the front of that Foursquare Church
and told him to sit at the entrance of the church. I then asked how much the
kidnappers were demanding from him and how much he had paid and he said they
were demanding N500m and he had paid about N100m. I was shocked. We then took
him to the Igando Divisional Police Station.
Later that afternoon, the operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad
(SARS) returned with him to the street, but he was so tired and sick; he did
not even come out of the vehicle. They broke into the compound but the
kidnappers had escaped. So many things were discovered in the compound,
including guns, a white bus and a power bike. I had never seen any power bike
on this street before then.”
Home of one of Evan's informant Number 21 Prophet Asaye
Close, where Dunu was kept, is at the end of a close facing the entrance to the
street. The compound has only a single bungalow. The compound is covered with
interlocking stones. It is a study in irony. Carved on the gate is the sentence
‘Jesus is Alive.’ There is a doorbell on the left side of the gate. Observing
the building closely, it is easy to see why the kidnappers settled for it. It
is a single bungalow, so no noisy neighbor or neighbors to snoop into their
business. It has coconut trees at the back, but there were no high rise
buildings from where anybody could monitor what they were doing.
Asked about the activities in the compound, our source
said: “They (abductors) kept to themselves. The guy there, whenever he was
driving in from outside, the gate would have been opened before he got to the
gate. In addition, loud music was always wafting from the bungalow. This always
muffled every noise coming from there. This happened mostly in the day time. In
the night, of course, the generating set would take over. So, we (neighbors)
could never have known what went on there”.
With the escape of Dunu, he was able to make useful
statements to the police about his kidnap. The next day, May 13, SARS
operatives in four patrol vans stormed Franzaki Street, Bucknor Estate, off
Isheri Osun Road. It was the rented home of one of the workers of Maydon
Pharmaceutical, identified as Emeka, a pharmacist. He is from Oguta, Imo State,
and in his late 30s or early 40’s; he has a wife and a child, according to the
residents, who were rattled by the early morning raid.
Emeka was whisked away from his house by the police.
Since then, the residents said he has not returned.
It was on the basis of this breakthrough that the Lagos
Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, four days after Emeka’s arrest on May 16
declared a certain faceless Evans wanted. He said: “We are encouraging
Nigerians to blow the whistle on this kidnapper. Whoever blows the whistle will
get N30 million rewards as stated by the Inspector General of Police…Evans has
been on the wanted list of the Police in Anambra, Edo and Lagos states for
years. The suspects arrested have given us valuable information, which the
command is working on to ensure that he is apprehended by all means.”
Operatives of the Inspector General of Police’s
anti-kidnapping team went into action and with the aid of high-tech equipment,
they were able to track key members of the kidnap syndicate, rounded them up
and then set the stage for the final arrest of Evans. This came last Saturday
when Evans was demystified by the police.
Mood at the victim’s firm
At the headquarters of Maydon Pharmaceutical Company
Limited at 15 Wilmer Street, Ilupeju, Lagos, the atmosphere was subdued. The
workers discussed in a low tone. There were several innuendoes about a certain
Emeka from Oguta. Both Mr. Donatus Dunu, the chairman of the company, and his
wife, the managing director, were not on seat.
However, one of the male workers said they had been
warned not to discuss their boss’ harrowing experience with pressmen and that
it was only the boss or his wife that can speak on the matter. Pressed further,
he described his boss’ escape as miraculous. When shown the picture of the
compound where Dunu was kept with the inscription ‘Jesus is alive’, he
exclaimed ‘indeed, Jesus is alive!’
C-Sahara Reporter
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