New Telegraph

#ENDSARS: You’re Evans’ sister, counsel tells woman who claimed miscarriage

There was a mild drama yesterday when a lawyer representing the Inspector-General of Police, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) confronted an alleged SARS victim, Mrs Ndubisi Obiechina, about being the sister of the alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans.

Mr Nosa Uhumuangho, the counsel for the IRT, confronted Ndubisi at the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry for Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters. She was before the panel alongside her husband, Mr Okwuchukwu Obiechina, to be cross-examined by the police.

 

During the cross-examination, Uhumuangho debunked Obiechina’s claims earlier made before the panel on October 31 that Ndubisi had miscarried a two-month old pregnancy while in police custody.

 

The couple had alleged that they were unlawfully arrested for 22-days by the Special Anti- Robbery Squad (SARS). But confronting Ndubisi, Uhumuangho said “Were you not told why you were arrested? Are you a relative to the popular Evans?” Acting ignorant, Ndubisi replied “can you describe him?

 

Who is he?” The police counsel read out Evans birth names in response and Ndubisi admitted that the alleged kidnap kingpin was her blood relation. “He is my brother. I never knew he is popularly known as Evans. I knew he was arrested for kidnapping” she said.

 

Addressing the panel, Uhumuangho said: “Evans was arrested because of the police invitation of his sister, Mrs Obiechina. She led them to arrest Evans. She was kept in custody for five days and that led us in the arrest of her brother.”

 

The lawyer for the police gave a background to the 2017 arrest of the couple. “One Francis Umeh was kidnapped in 2017 and a ransom of $1million was collected by the kidnappers and he reported his ordeal to the police.

 

“The said Francis Umeh’s family was contacted by the kidnapper with the following numbers -08091000097, 08112452895 and 08188489518. “These numbers were used to collect the ransom from Mr Umeh. The numbers were forwarded to the Technical Intelligence Unit for expansion and the numbers that were frequently contacted by those numbers were revealed.

 

“The phone numbers of these two witnesses were there and that was why they were arrested on June 5, 2017 and upon the arrest of her brother, she was granted bail,” Uhumuangho said. The lawyer also disputed the claims of the Obiechina’s that they were detained for 22-days by SARS. He claimed that the couple was arrested on June 5, 2017 and not on June 2,

 

2017 as claimed. He said they were detained by the police for five days and that Ndubisi never told the policemen that she was pregnant and that she never revealed her health status in her statement.

 

Uhumuangho presented to the panel, Ndubisi’s statement, which was allegedly written on June 5, 2017 which was the day the police claimed she was arrested. He also presented a bail document dated June 11, 2017, the date the police alleged she was freed from custody.

 

Ndubisi denied the allegations and insisted that she was detained for 22-days and that the SARS officers were aware of her pregnancy.

 

“I was detained for 22-days. I was arrested on June 2, around 12noon and when my husband came, he was also arrested.”

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