After 7 Years Manhunt, Most Wanted Kidnap Suspect Arrested in Lagos

Abimbola Akosile with agency report

The Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector-General, led by ACP Abba Kyari saturday revealed that it had arrested one of the most wanted suspected kidnappers in Lagos.

Kyari, who confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the suspect was arrested at his Magodo residence in Lagos.

The suspect, 36-year-old Chukwudidumeme Onuamadike, who is a native of Anambra State, was nabbed inside Magodo Phase II around noon yesterday, marking an end to a near decade-long manhunt by law enforcement authorities.

“IRT headquarters in Abuja is celebrating the arrest of the most wanted brilliant and notorious high profile kidnapper in Nigeria. He has collected several billions of Naira as ransom in the last seven years as the kingpin of kidnappers. He was arrested at about 1.00p.m on Saturday in his residence in Magodo Estate, Lagos,” Kyari said.

He commended the Force Headquarters for mobilising the resources to go all out against the “richest and most notorious kidnapper” in the history of Nigeria.

Kyari said the Inspector-General had directed that the suspect should be paraded before newsmen on Sunday in Lagos.
Also, Police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, who confirmed the development, said Onuamadike’s arrest was a major success and a morale booster in the war against incessant kidnapping, which has become a lucrative enterprise for hardened criminals in recent years.

Moshood, a chief superintendent of police, said the suspect was arrested by police intelligence monitoring unit put together by the Inspector-General, Ibrahim Idris.

“Millions of Nigerians in different parts of the a country who dreaded this suspect will now be able to sleep with their two eyes closed,” Moshood said.

According to online reports, the police first caught wind of Onuamadike’s activities when he allegedly began terrorising residents of several Lagos neighbourhoods, especially Festac Town and its environs.

It was in Festac that Onuamadike allegedly masterminded the abduction of Vincent Obianudo, the billionaire owner of Young Shall Grow Motors, in 2013.

Onuamadike, a.k.a.: Evans, has presence in the South-South corridor, where he allegedly established many kidnap formations that operated in major settlements along the East-West Road, including the Port-Harcourt and Warri, both with a high number of oil workers, according to reports.

Moshood said the suspect had allegedly devised a unique method of extracting ransom from victims. “He keeps his victims for up to six to seven months in captivity until when their families pay amounts ranging from N300 to 400 million as ransom in several installments,” the police spokesperson said.

Dozens of suspects attached to Onuamadike’s kidnap formations across the country have been killed in shootouts with law enforcement officers since 2010, the police said.