***Nobody on earth had my picture before now. Making it difficult for security agents to apprehend me because they don’t know how I look like. I have numerous names for different people. My wife knows me as Somtochukwu, while all my girlfriends knew me as Mike. My neighbors at Gowon Estate knew me as George. I was also known as Sunny in Benin while in Portharcourt, I was known as Richard.
Kidnap kingpin, Chukwudemeje George Onwuamadike alias Evans, has revealed how he was able to evade arrest over the years. In an interview with Saturday Vanguard, Evans revealed how he maintained multiple identities and ensured that his pictures were not in circulation.
He said: “I beat security operatives over the years because my system is a sensor that detects problems. I don’t use charms of any kind but I developed the ability to detect danger since my early days as an armed robber. That was why I was able to know that the Police were close to me even when they haven’t informed me.
“I don’t snap pictures. In fact, I don’t have any picture. Nobody on earth had my picture before now. Even those who are very close to me don’t have my picture. I don’t snap pictures
“My mother doesn’t have my pictures. My wife and siblings don’t have them as well. My pictures are not in my house and that made it difficult for security agents to apprehend me because they don’t know how I look like. Another issue you may have to take into consideration is the fact that I have numerous names for different people. My wife knows me as Somtochukwu, while all my girlfriends knew me as Mike. My neighbors at Gowon Estate knew me as George. I was also known as Sunny in Benin while in Portharcourt, I was known as Richard.
“These are the reasons it was difficult for policemen to track and arrest me. No one has my pictures and the names I bear in Lagos weren’t the names I had in other states. I would have been worse than this if I had proper education. With education, I could have done worse things and be elusive. But thank God it’s over and I have been stopped.”
How Evans obtained fake Ghanaian passport for himself, wife, kids
The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris has revealed that Evans, did not only fraudulently secure a Ghanaian passport, but also acquired one for the wife and two of his children.
The IGP was speaking in an interview with Ghanaian medium, Joy News, where he disclosed that Evans was issued a Ghanaian passport this year under a fake name, Asare Nelson in Accra.
The Ghanaian passport was found on Evans during when he was arrested on June 10 in his home in Lagos.
According to the news outlet, the IG revealed that Evans’ wife and two children are also in possession of Ghanaian passports.
He explained that the Nigerian passport of his wife bears the name Uchenna Precious Onwuamadike issued at the Abuja passport headquarters while her Ghanaian passport bears the name Precious Asare born sometime in July of 1985.
The children’s passports also bear the last name Asare all issued in Accra, according to Idris.
A document signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP Abba Kyari and presented to the IGP revealed that Evans has moved his wife and five children to Ghana because of the nature of his business.
IGP Idris also revealed that the kidnapper’s residence in Ghana is located at the Spintex Road in Accra and that the duplex structure is where Mrs. Uchenna Precious Onwuamadike resides with their children.
He said the Nigerian police is very interested in the case because Evans kidnapped people and took ransom in United States dollars.
He said he will collaborate with the Ghana Police Service because Evans’ acts go beyond the shores of Nigeria.
Idris said, “I requested for my force in Nigeria to send me some documents to share with the IGP to show him the locations of all his property in Ghana as well as copies of his passports.
“Evans owns two big plush duplexes in Accra.”
“I hope Ghanaian police can take the fraudulent acquisition of passport up to block people like him from acquiring Ghanaian passports through dubious means,” he said.
According to the IGP, the documents available to them so far revealed that Evans’ victims are all Nigerians.
Mrs. Evans’ basket of lies
The next big question borders on the role of his wife.
Mrs. Evans has fervently denied having any knowledge of her husband’s nefarious activities. The 31-year-old earlier in a telephone conversation with a Nigerian newspaper denied having any inkling of her husband’s kidnapping business, insisting that Evans dealt in spare parts and haulage business and that the reason for their relocation to Ghana was for their children to have good education.
But, her assertions fell flat in the face of fresh and emerging facts, giving the public a portrait of her as a consummate liar, after her cameo weepy appearance on social media with her children.
It also confirmed both husband and wife as a “Bony and Clyde” couple.
For instance, her passport and those of her two children were issued in 2010, three years before her husband got his. For a woman who claimed to be oblivious of her husband’s activities, she had no qualms swapping her Nigerian identity for Precious Asare, travelling with the Ghanaian passport in preparation to migrate to Canada with a purported Ghanaian identity.
In retrospect, observers note, the family’s choice of Ghana as sanctuary made sense and easily connects the dots, as it offers greater possibility of easily transiting to other countries and avoiding any of Nigeria’s ports, where the head could essily be apprehended.
Recall that after a 2013 kidnap operation in Benin City, that turned the heat against him, Evans ceased flying through Nigerian airports. All his subsequent trips by flight were made using his Ghanaian passports and through Ghana’s airport.
Also, adopting Ghana as second home eases the possibility of securing visa to Canada, which appears to be their choice destination. Canada’s High Commission in Accra issues visa for a host of West African countries including Nigeria. Considering that they eventually got the Canadian visas, it is easy to conclude that they would have emigrated to the North American country, a security source said.
The next chapter
Probing Evans is like unfurling an onion bulb. The layers of leaves keep revealing more layers. Bits and pieces of fresh facts and clues emerge everyday as the police continue to follow the spoor and dig deeper to unravel the numerous mysteries of the decade-long criminal career of Evans. So far, it is a case of “the more you look, the more you see.” If he continues to sing like the canary, the public can keep their fingers crossed for the next episode in the unveiling soap opera. They should also, of course, expect the unexpected.
Via VANGUARD, DAILY SUN.
