Evans victim, Dunu alleges threat to life

• We didn’t release alleged informant, court did, police say

Owner of Maydon Pharmaceutical Company, Ilupeju, Lagos State, Chief Donatus Dunu, who escaped mysteriously from the den of kidnap kingpin, Evan’s detention camp at Igando, a Lagos suburb, leading to police round up of the gang, yesterday lamented that the recent release of his workers, suspected to have taken part in his abduction, has placed his life in danger.

Dunu, who was visibly traumatized by the development, told newsmen that it was not in order for either the police or the court to grant bail to suspects of such high profile case with startling revelations from the leader of the most dangerous kidnapping gang in the country.

According to him, “nobody should have allowed those suspected workers in my company to be granted bail in any manner because I have evidence of their active participation in the deadly operation, particularly Emeka, my pharmacist. Releasing him has worsened my plight as me and members of my family now live in perpetual fear. 

“I not only heard his voice while in captivity, having being with me since 2003, but saw him where I was kept few days after my kidnap. He came asking them where I was kept. When they showed him, he opened the door where they kept me in chains and our eyes met. 

“Though I was blindfolded, I was about eating when I heard his voice and I normally remove the blind. That was how I saw him and I had the greatest shock of my life. He was always there with my abductors. His voice is unmistakable to me having stayed with me for many years. 

“The man in charge of the den, Uche, whom he claims he does not know, speaks the same dialect with him. He is the person Emeka meets each time he visited. There was also another member of the gang who speaks Abakaliki dialect and I don’t know whether those in police net have confessed his whereabouts to the police.

“Those guarding me were initially two but when the Abakaliki man travelled on Easter Monday, they brought another person to replace him. That one is very sick because he was coughing constantly. That same Easter Monday, I heard Emeka and Uche saying ‘we will kill him. We have no alternative until chairman comes back.’

“Two weeks later, chairman, whom I suspect is Evans, came and I knew whenever he visited because they will shut all the doors and switch on the generator, perhaps to stifle their discussions. His visit did not last more than 10 minutes.
 
“That same night, the Abakaliki man brought Indomie for my dinner. He told me to eat so that I will have enough energy to face ‘us at the canal.’ They later told me that canal is where they use to ‘bath’ their captives and I concluded that it means where they kill their victims. That was when I realized that the killing they were discussing with Emeka was about to take place. I had earlier thought the killing they were discussing was probably another person. That was on Wednesday before my escape on Friday. I heard Emeka asking whether they have killed me. They said no, it was going to be Friday night. That was when I concluded that it was all over.

“I have never had issues with Emeka. The only thing was that I suspected he and some of my boys were stealing goods from my warehouse and I made changes, which I suspect did not favour him. I strongly suspect that this must be his motive to connive with those kidnappers.”

However, reacting to the reported release of Emeka, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Administration, Dansuki Galandashi, explained that after Dunu escaped from where he was kept on May 12, 2017, he told policemen that he suspected one of his boys, Emeka, who was subsequently arrested.

“To set the records straight, Emeka and two others, Kingsley and Tochukwu, were arrested and charged to court on May 17. The suspects were remanded in prison custody for one month and two weeks, from where the court granted them bail on June 23, 2017.

“Before they were granted bail, Evans was arrested. We did an identification parade and they said they did not know Evans. Evans also claimed not to know any of them.

“Besides, Evans told investigators that members of his strike team do not know any of the detention camps. He said when they strike, they usually took victims to a place from where the receiving team came to pick them to detention camps. The court looked at the evidences and released the suspects. The police did not release them, the court did,” he said.