Evans' in-law, wife and their house
heheheheehe......... The
last may not have been heard of acclaimed billionaire kidnap kingpin,
Evans, following some revelation by his wife's family who live in abject
poverty in Awo-Oraifite in Ekwusigo local government area of Anambra
State
An interaction with Mr. Chukwuemeka Okoye, brother-in-law of the
suspected notorious kidnapper, Mr Chidumeme Onwuamadike, a.k.a Evans, in
the sleepy village of Awo-Oraifite in Ekwusigo local government area of
Anambra State, gave an impression of a family in abject poverty.
Chukwuemeka told Sunday Vanguard that his parents had 13 children,
saying all of them had to struggle to make ends meet by engaging in
menial jobs. It was, therefore, not surprising that Uchenna, Evans’ wife
and the last of the 13 children, had to get married very early so as to
leave the poor environment.
Locating the home of the Okoyes in the village was difficult
because one had expected that the house of the in-laws of a man who
counted money in millions, both in local and hard currency, while his
alleged escapades lasted, should be among the best in the community. But
this was not to be as the unfenced and shabbily looking bungalow, where
the family lives stood conspicuously in the area.
However, Chukwuemeka’s family of six, along with the unmarried
elder sister of Evans’ wife, were found living in the house built in the
village by one of his brothers residing in South Africa. To express how
detached the wife of the suspected kidnapper is from the family,
Chukwuemeka, a peasant farmer and construction site labourer, said his
sister had not visited home since she got married in 2006. According to
him, he returned from the North some years ago where he was an
apprentice following the disturbances in many cities in that part of the
country.
While at home, and because of lack of support, he learnt to be a
mechanic, but had to abandon the job when he had a fracture while
lifting a car engine. The encounter with Chukwuemeka began earlier after
he returned with a rickety motorcycle, as enquiries were being made
about the family, with a bunch of cassava sticks tied behind it. He
welcomed the visitor and told the story of his family.
He said: “Our late father was already bedridden when Evans
married Uchenna, our sister. My sister knew how difficult it was for the
family and how sick our father was, but, after her marriage, no member
of the family set eyes or heard from her up till now. For the eight
years that our father was sick before he died in 2014 , Uchenna neither
visited nor sent anybody to know how the family was coping. Sometimes I
say to myself that it is possible that Evans charmed my sister because
this was a girl that was very caring and homely. For her to abandon the
family did not look normal to me.
“During the burial of our father, it was her father in-law, Mr.
Stephen Onwuamadike, that came with his relations and could not even
fulfill the conditions required during such situation in Igbo land.
Uchenna and her husband, Evans, did not come to the village for the
burial.
“For some years now, our mother has been down with diabetes and
one of my brothers living in the North had to take her to keep close
watch on her. She would have preferred staying at home, but having seen
that it would be extremely difficult for me to manage the sickness due
to lack of financial resources, she agreed to go to the North.
“My sister and her husband have not been communicating with us
and we don’t even know where they live. There was a time someone said
they were living abroad. I am, therefore, shocked to hear that Uchenna’s
husband is a suspected kidnapper and that he had made so much money.
“My sister that I knew would have escaped from his house if she
found out that the man she married is a kidnapper and that is why I say
that everything is not normal with her. I had not even left this
village for apprentice in the North when she got married and I am now
married with four children and my sister does not know whether I am
alive or not. It is even possible that I might not recognize her if I
see her, not to talk of knowing her children. My wife here (pointing at
her where she was seated and listening) does not know about her because
we have never discussed anything about Uchenna. I am also surprised to
hear that she has five children.
“My elder brother once told me that he communicated with her
and there is no way I could know their present predicament because I do
not watch television, neither do I have a mobile phone that can be used
for browsing. I cannot even identify my brother in-law, Evans, if we
meet anywhere because the last time I set eyes on him was the day she
came here and took my sister away 11 years ago.”
Chukwuemeka, however, pleaded with government to give his sister
and her husband a second chance, believing that they would turn a new
leaf, having seen where crime landed them.
Evans’ wife’s cousin, Reverend Emmanuel Okoye, a priest of the
Anglican Church, corroborated Chukwuemeka’s story, saying they did not
know much about Uchenna because she had not been communicating with the
family, adding that he only knew about their present predicament from
the internet.
He said: “We were all living in that house (pointing at the
bungalow), but as the family became larger, coupled with frequent family
squabbles, we left the house because it was built by their father. I
have not asked her immediate family about what I saw on the internet
concerning her and husband because we have not been relating as we
should.”
Mrs. Ngozi Nwaka, a petty trader, who said she knew Uchenna when
she was at Awo Primary School, Oraifite, close to the Okoye family home,
expressed surprise when her name was mentioned due to the fact that she
had not heard or seen her since she got married. Though Mrs. Nwaka said
she had heard about Evans the kidnapper as he was regularly shown on
television, she never associated him with Uchenna because the couple had
not been visiting Oraifite.
She told Sunday Vanguard that Uchenna was an average pupil in her
class, although she was not contemplating going to secondary school
because the parents were poor, adding that she was among the first set
of her age mates to get married.
Many of the villagers told Sunday Vanguard they were not aware
that, Evans’ wife hailed from the area. Although some of the people said
they had read about Evans, who was described as the most notorious
kidnapper in the country, it was a surprise to them that he was married
to their kinswoman. A commercial motorcycle operator, Mr. Francis
Odinuko -recalled how a suspected kidnapper from Ifite-Oraifite, Mr.
Olisagbo Ifedike, a.k.a Ofe Akwu, attracted so much attention in the
area during the administration of former Governor Peter Obi, who led
security operatives to demolish two magnificent buildings belonging to
Ofe Akwu on September 5, 2012, adding that until that demolition, most
people thought Ofe Akwu was a businessman.
Odinujo said that Evans’ in-laws must count themselves lucky that
he did not build any house in their compound because such a house would
have been demolished in line with the Anambra government policy. Odunuko
said he went to Umudim, Nnewi when the news of Evans broke, not knowing
that his wife is from his home town, Awo-Oraifite.
He urged government not to take those begging for leniency for
Evans serious, arguing that kidnappers are wicked people who must pay
for their crime.
“Not minding that the wife is from my town, Evans should face
the music because of the suffering he inflicted on many families and
innocent people who he denied freedom,” the commercial motorcycle
operator said. He also suggested that the monies recovered from Evans
should be used to take care of those who suffered in his hands at
various times.
Source: Vanguard
No comments:
Post a Comment