Alleged kidnapper,
Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike a.k.a Evans has said in court that he made his
confessional statement under duress in 2017.
Evans told Justice Adedayo
Akintoye of Igbosere High Court, Lagos on Wednesday that he signed the
statement to save him from being tortured to death.
The alleged kidnap kingpin
is currently facing charges, bordering on conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping and
attempted murder before Justice Akintoye.
In the first charge, Evans
is standing trial alongside Joseph Emeka, Ugochukwu Nwachukwu and Victor Aduba.
In the second charge, he is
standing trial alongside Joseph Emeka, Linus Okpara and Victor Aduba.
At the resumed hearing, Evans
gave details of how members of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Intelligence
Response Team allegedly tortured and killed several others who were paraded
alongside him in his presence.
He said that the security
agents tortured the victims by suffocating them with plastic bags and
threatened to do same to him if he failed to cooperate with them.
Evans said that some sheets
of papers were brought for him to sign, adding that some of the papers were
blank while others had things written on them.
“When I asked what I was to
sign the police officers slapped me and even quenched a cigarette on my hand.
“The officers were beating
me and told me that if anything happens to me, no one will know. They hit my
head and blood was gushing, the scars are still on my head.
“When I saw how five men,
who were paraded with me, were tortured and killed, I agreed to sign the papers
with fear of what happened to the other men,” Evans said.
He also said that the
contents of the papers he signed were not read to him and that there was no
video recording during the statement taking.
Evans gave the details
while a trial within a trial was conducted to ascertain whether his statement
was taken under duress or not.
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