A suspected informant, Chiemezie Arinze, who allegedly provided information to nabbed billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike also known as Evans, has made shocking revelations about how he disclosed information about the owner of The Young Shall Grow (YSG) Motors.
An intriguing aspect of his narratives is the description of Evans as a wicked man, who cheated and took advantage of him.
He owned up and told Vanguard that he passed information about the transport mogul to Evans
Hs said: “I am Chiemeka Arinze and a native of Izu-Umudebute in Oba Town, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State. I am 35 years old and I am married. I attended Merchant of Light Secondary school in Oba and I graduated in 1996. I came to Lagos State in 1997 and started trading. I served one of my uncles. We sold stationeries in Mushin, Lagos.
“I served him for six years and he settled me and I used the money he gave me to set up a boutique at the Mile 2 Shopping Complex which has been demolished. But before my shop was demolished, there was this Uche from Ojoto area of Idemili South LGA Anambra State, who used to patronize me in my shop.
“He usually buys expensive clothes from me. We later became friends and we were always hanging out. After my shop was demolished and things became difficult for me, I asked Uche for assistance and he asked me to join in his business which turned out to be armed robbery. Since we were very close, I couldn’t resist and I joined him. Our first operation was at Mobil Fillings Station in Apapa. We were four persons that went for that operation, Uche, two others and myself.
‘’That was in 2008 and we broke into the fillings station at night and stole the sum of N150,000. Uche who was the leader of the group had two Ak47 rifles and he told me that he was a big time armed robber, adding that he normally burgles fillings stations when he had no big job.
‘’Our second operation, which was just a few days after the first one was also at a fuel station in Ogun State and we made the sum of N300,000. At that time Uche told me about Evans and said Evans was a big time boss in the criminal world, who specialized on robbing bullion vans. Uche said he was always working with him.
“Uche also told me that Evans was based in Edo State, saying that he was trying to lure him to Festac Town. In July 2012, Evans eventually joined us in Festac, Uche told me that there was a man known as Raymond Okoye, who they wanted to kidnap. He said all they wanted me to do was to monitor the man’s movements.
‘’I was given the description of the man’s vehicle and I trailed him to a bar where he went to drink on 21 Road, Festac Town. I watched him as he sat in the bar drinking with his friends. I also watched as he left the place. I called Uche and informed him that the man had left the place. After a while, Uche called and informed me that the man had been kidnapped.
“I didn’t know where they kept the man because I didn’t have access to Evans and I also did not know how much was paid as ransom before the man was released but I was given the sum of N300,000 one month after the man was kidnapped.
‘’I had bought a car with some of the money I made while robbing fillings stations and after I got the N300,000 from the kidnap job, I sold the car and traveled to Ghana. I started to buy Indian Hemp from that country and was selling it in Nigeria.
“I became a distributor and was supplying many people. By the end of that year, Uche called and said Evans had instructed that I should look for any rich man in Festac Town, who could pay us big money when kidnapped.
‘’I thought about the owner of The Young Shall Grow Motors, Chief Vincent Obinudo because I knew where he lived. I told Uche about it and he relayed it to Evans who approved it. Evans even said that he was confident that the Chief would pay big money because the owner of GUO Motors also paid big money as ransom when he was kidnapped. I was given an instruction to monitor Chief Obianudo’s movements daily and report back to them.
“I followed the Chief for about one month and I studied his routine. I discovered he had a team of policemen escorting him whenever he moved and he usually visited the Federal Housing Authority, FHA, Club in Festac Town on a daily basis. I was told that he was the Chairman of the Club. I was always hanging outside the club and I gathered lots of information about his activities within the club.
“I gave all the information I gathered to Uche and Evans and on the day they agreed to kidnap the Chief, I monitored him when he entered the club. I also monitored him while he was leaving and I called Uche and informed him about it. I told Uche that he had his police escort with him and they were in a Toyota Hilux driving behind him. I also told him that the Chief was the one driving himself.
“At 11: pm that night Evans called me and told me that Uche had been killed in their attempt to kidnap Young Shall Grow boss. He also told me that of two of his boys were also killed, adding that he was on his way out of the country.
“I became very sad after I got the news of my friend’s death and decided to stop communicating with Evans. I went back to my Indian Hemp business. A few months later, Evans called me again and told me that he was back, saying that he wanted me to monitor the movement of a man he wanted to kidnap.
“I told him that I wasn’t interested. He kept on disturbing me and I had to change my phone number. Evans was desperate on getting me back into the gang and I vowed never to work for him again. He even contacted me through one of my brothers but I told my brother not to communicate with him again. I was very happy when I heard that he had been arrested.”
