A suspected robber and kidnapper, Linus Opara, has said he did not know the magic by which suspected billionaire kidnapper, Evans, lured him into his kidnapping gang.
Linus, 53, spoke at the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command in GRA, Ikeja Lagos while narrating how he worked with the alleged kidnap kingpin before he was arrested.
He said: โDo not look at my white hair; it is not as a result of old age. Rather, my hair turned white because of long suffering after my graduation as a civil engineer from the University of Ibadan. It is still a surprise to me how an illiterate person like Evans was able to lure me into kidnapping and all his illicit business.
โI studied Civil Engineering in the University of Ibadan. I am married with four children and they are still schooling. My wife is a graduate of Accountancy from the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), but she has not secured work till date.โ
The resident of No. 3, Apon Street, Olowola Bus Stop, Igando, Lagos, who said he ran a companyโLinok Construction Companyโbased at No. 3 Umezinne Street, off Saint Peters Street, Alaba, Lagos, described himself as โa mere informantโ to the alleged kidnap kingpin. He said his role in the gang was to monitor victims while Evans paid him any amount he deemed fit for his services.
Police sources said that Linus was arrested at about 9 pm on July 20, 2017 at his house in Igando, Lagos. He claimed that he was introduced to Evans by a notorious kidnapper identified simply by members of the gang as Doctor, but died at Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, during the exchange of gun fire with the police in 2016.
Embattled Evans, according to a police source, had revealed that Linus was one of his informants.
Linus said: โI am not anything to Evans. We only address him as chairman and sometimes as president of group of companies. I was arrested and taken to the State Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS) building in Ikeja on 20th July, 2017.
โI saw Evans for the first time the day I supplied a nutrition supplement because I am a distributor. The second time I met Evans was when policemen took me from their cell to an unknown place in Lagos, because I was blindfolded. I could not see where they were taking me to.
โIt was when they took me to Evans that they removed the blindfold and I saw him. I addressed him as Nwachinemelu. Police were asking both of us questions and I was answering accordingly. They asked me how many times I worked for Evans and I said two times, and that I turned him down the third time that he asked me to do another job. I told the police that I monitored victims for him and he paid me. I did not know the names of the victims.
โDuring the first work I did for him, he sent a motorcycle rider to meet me at Olowola Bus Stop. He gave my phone number to him and he called me. When I met him, I asked him where he was taking me to. He said he was taking me to Trade Fair area. So I entered (sic) his motorcycle and he took me to under the bridge at Trade Fair.
โHe drove (rode) towards Mile 2 area. Evans called me and asked where we were and I told him. But he asked me to go home; that I had done well. When we reached Alakija, I told him and he said I should not worry myself; that he had told others to allow me to go to my house. When he called again, he asked me to send my bank account number to him. I sent my First Bank account number to him and he wired the sum of N2 million to my account. I was surprised.
โThe second time, it was the same process as he already had my bank account number. He sent me the sum of N700,000. When he called me for the third job, I told him that I was not interested, because I started sensing some errors in the business, like getting afraid for the kind of money he was giving me. The money he was giving me in the twinkle of an eye was bigger than the money I used to make in a whole year as a civil engineerโ.
