Billionaire Kidnapper, Evans Is Now Broke And Can’t Pay Legal Fees

It has been confirmed that Ikeja High Court Justice Hakeem Oshodi has ordered the Public Defender’s Lagos State Office (OPD) to take over the defense of suspected kidnap kingpin, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike alias Evans because of his inability to pay his legal fees.

Live News Nigeria reports that Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), Attorney General, told the court on Friday that his team phoned the law chambers of Ladi Williams (SAN) and Co., who had represented Evans on the last court date.

Onigbanjo disclosed they were told that Evans had not “perfected the brief.”

Evans, first arraigned alongside others on 30 August 2017, more than three times changed attorneys during the course of his trial.

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He had been served by Messers Olukoya Ogungbeje, Noel Brown and Olanrewaju Ajanaku.

Justice Oshodi said Evans had formed a habit of hiring lawyers’ services which “disappeared halfway through court.”

That has caused delays in the event, he decried.

“There are five other defendants with different counsel, the interest of the first defendant (Evans) is not superior to those of the other defendants”, NAN quoted him as saying.

He stated that the court “will not breach Section 36(6) of the 1999 Constitution by going ahead with today’s business of the court which is the hearing of the no-case submissions”.

Oshodi directed a physically present OPD lawyer, Ms E.E. Okonkwo, to take over the defense of Evans.

Subsequently, co-defendants of Evans, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu and Victor Aduba, filed no-case applications.

The second defendant, Uche Amadi, however did not file a no-case submission.

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Defence counsels, Roger Adewole, Olanrewaju Ajanaku, M.C Izokwu and Emmanuel Ochai, informed the court that no prima facie (correct until proven otherwise) case had been made against the defendants by Lagos State.

They prayed the court to dismiss the case against the defendants.

In his reaction, the A-G said the defendants were “asking the court to do something that cannot be done. They are asking the court to analyse evidence and go beyond the window that no-case submissions requires.”

He urged the court to show that “there is prima facie evidence. There is before the court, legally admitable prima facie evidence enough for the defendants to enter their defence”.

Justice Oshodi adjourned until August 14 for ruling and possible continuation of trial.

The defendants are standing trial over the alleged kidnap of Donatius Dunu, the Chief Executive Officer of Maydon Pharmaceutical Ltd.

The prosecution said the defendants allegedly kidnapped Dunu along Ilupeju Road, Lagos on February 14, 2017 and collected 223,000 Euros (N100million) as ransom from his family.

But the captive escaped and alerted the police while being held by his abductors who even after the initial ransom had been paid demanded additional money.

Testimonies have testified against Evans and his accomplices, including Dunu.

The prosecution closed the case against the suspects on 10 January 2020.