“The pattern of the prodigal is: rebellion, ruin, repentance, reconciliation, restoration.”
—Edwin Louis Cole
By Cosmas Omegoh
The name Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, aka Evans, resonates among those who have followed his life in the crime world.
Just last week, Evans, from his incarceration, grabbed the headlines again. Of course, every news about him is always as big as the last. So, last week’s news about him followed the tradition.
Evans also known as the billionaire kidnapper is top rated for his legendary acts of crime and criminality.
He won that sobriquet for holding Lagos, Edo and Anambra states by the jugular. They convulsed because of him; he kept hitting the top echelon of the society, especially many of his rich kinsmen from the Southeast.
He collected ransom from his victims and their relatives in foreign currencies. He was brutal about his trade, and made no mistakes. There was no messing with him either. The consequences were dire. Those whose relatives could not meet his deadlines paid the supreme price as Evans was deadly. And the list of his victims is long.
As many that passed through Evans’ pathway and were lucky to be alive still recall their grim experiences with goose pimples. Their encounters were such they would not wish anyone.
And so, as far as kidnapping and robbery were concerned, Evans probably had no equals nor rivals.
Evans was also believed to be a big-time dealer in illicit drugs. All his acts were spoken about in superlatives. Such was his profile, such was his pedigree in crime. And such was the size of his foot print on the Nigerians crime soil. Probably there was none like that before him; perhaps the country will not wish to witness any other like him again.
Nevertheless, one day, Evans’ days in the sun came to a screeching halt. On Saturday, June 10, 2017, the appointed time came for him. He was apprehended, netted while he savoured life inside one of his two mansions in the upscale Magodo Estate in Lagos.
Before Evans was apprehended, he operated for years with the ease of the wind, staging high-profile abductions and robberies, as well as lifting tons of cash – dollars, pound sterling and euros in ransom. He lived big. His name evoked deep emotions in men.
There were allegations that he was in bed with many top security brass who always tipped him off and showed him how to navigate the thorns and twists that lay ahead of him. He would jump and pass as they say in local parlance.
After years of back and forth following his arrest, Evans was convicted on Friday, February 25, 2022 on for kidnapping and conspiracy.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Special Offences Court sentenced him to 21 years imprisonment for multiple criminal offences.
And since then, he has been chilling in prison. Only very little was heard about him. Occasionally, references would be made of him when high-profile criminality occurred. So he was only mentioned in the past.
But last week Thursday, something curious about Evans emerged. It was a shocking new twist that wafted from his camp – something totally at variance with what he, Evans, stood for and was known for. It left the generality of the people and probably the government bewildered.
The Evans revelations were things that ought to set the government and the society probably pondering. The summary is that Evans is now a changed man!
At the resumed hearing of some of his other cases last Thursday at Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, Evans told the judge that he had changed for good.
He said that he had denounced flurry of his criminal activities, affirming that he was now a brand new man. He pleaded with the Lagos State government to forgive him his sins and show him mercy, calling for a plea bargain in place of his incarceration.
Evans further shocked his audience when he revealed that while in prison, he had turned his criminal mindset to academic pursuit.
He said he is now a 200-level student of the National Open University of Nigeria, (NOUN) courtesy of the scholarship granted him by the Federal Government. He thanked the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) too for her support; he asked that he should be pardoned and allowed to go home for good to recreate the society.
Evans told the world in court that if let off the hook, he would offer himself as a worthy ambassador to go round schools preaching to students that what looks like gold could be tinsel after all.
Evans made his submissions through his lawyer, Emefo Etudo, when he addressed the trial judge, Justice Adenike Coker.
He said despite the amended charge and his not-guilty plea, he had applied to the Lagos State government through the Attorney-General’s office for a plea bargain.
His counsel said: “Our focus in this matter is the plea bargain which we have submitted to the state government.
“My client is now a repentant person. He was a young man consumed by crime, but he is now remorseful. Presently, he is a 200-level student of the National Open University of Nigeria.
“In fact, he made A1 in all his papers in NECO while in prison. All this was made possible through a scholarship given to him by the Federal Government.
“My Lord, we have asked the Lagos State government to give him the opportunity to go around schools in the state to talk to youths about the dangers of crime.”
The Evans revelations vividly bring to mind the telling reality that if the correctional facilities scattered across the country are properly managed, they will certainly be the change agencies they were founded to be.
If those who go in and come out from them and the managers commit to the ideal, that could turn around the lives of the prisoners for the best. They will, while out, become the best they were destined to be.
Conversely, the fact, therefore, that some persons walk in and out of the prisons as hardened criminals begs the question.
It remains a poignant reminder that no corrections ever took place in their lives after all.
Evans’ life in crime and his new acclaimed turnaround hold huge lessons for Nigeria’s new tribe of felons trudging through the cities as Yahoo-boys and the rest like them sold to ritual murder, kidnapping, robbery and other vices.
It clearly tells that “when you do the crime, you pay the price.”
Now, the Lagos State government needs to mull Evans’ offer to commit to de-radicalising the youths by taking the “Do-no-crime” message to them.
He is most qualify to tell the story that there is no virtue in vice.
As it stands, Evans’ name is akin to crime. He has seen crime at its very highest level. His story that crime does not pay is sure to resonate and be by far more believable than of every one else. Therefore, there could be no better experienced voyager and forager into the turf of crime than him and no better ambassador to steer lives away from crime to craftsmanship with his story than him.
But then, a diviner will be needed to x-ray his inner most heart to be sure it is devoid of deceit.