Kidnap kingpin Chukwudubem Onwuamadike, alias Evans, planned to escape from police custody before his arraignment in court. But police detectives, especially those in the Intelligence Unit, aborted his plot, TheNation reports. The Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) has formed a heavy security ring around the suspect.

After months of hide and seek, the police arrested ‘Evans’ on June 10 at No. 3, Fred Shoboyede, Magodo, Lagos. He is standing trial before an Ikeja High Court for alleged conspiracy and kidnapping alongside five others. The other accused persons are Uche Amadi, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi and Victor Aduba.

All the suspects were on August 29 remanded in Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons. Unknown to many Nigerians, the kidnapping kingpin had allegedly tried to escape from his cell in Abuja after he was transferred from Lagos.

A source spoke of Evans’ plan to give between $50,000  and $100,000 to one of the guards manning his cell to facilitate his escape. The source said Evans was allegedly coordinating his escape bid with some members of his gang by telephone which he obtained through “suspicious” means.

It was learnt that intelligence officers and IGP’s Special Tactical Squad detected his plot.

The source said: “When Evans was in our custody, he tried to escape but we were able to abort all his plans. We discovered that he had access to phones which were hidden in the middle of loaves of bread, eba, semovita and so on.

“He was making calls from these smuggled phones in the middle of the night, making arrangements with some yet to be identified members of his gang to arrange for his escape.

“We intercepted how he was luring one of the guards with about  $50,000 to $100,000. He wanted an insider to serve as informant to him and members of his gang.”

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