Evans was arrested yesterday at his house at Magodo GRA Phase 2, Lagos
More than 20 security operatives stormed the Fred Shoboyejo home of vicious kidnapper and robber, Evans, less than a month after the police announced a thirty-million-naira bounty in return for information leading to his arrest.
For at least seven years, Evans has co-ordinated bank robberies across Oyo, Port Harcourt and Abia, as well as numerous high-profile kidnaps whose ransoms amount to hundreds of millions of naira.
On that Saturday morning, utilising months of information gathering and fresh tips, the usual quiet ambience of Magodo GRA Phase 2 was interrupted by gunshots as security manned the Y-crescent zone where Evans lived. Without a picture of what he looked like, they had first descended upon an adjacent building and roughened the occupants before realising the error – Evans is said to own a certain pricey brand of Jeep which was used to identify the criminal’s building.
Painted in light blue, the modest duplex sits behind a reflecting steel gate, not very differently from the many other duplex buildings in the area. As neighbours gathered to watch in disbelief, many lamented the grave danger they had been unknowingly exposed to by living next to a criminal of this repute. “There’s always 24-hours power supply in this (Evan’s) house. He even connected the street lights to his house power (which is not an exceptional deed for a Magodo resident). At least, we’ll miss him for that deed,” a neighbour, Toyin, quipped.
Until Saturday, Evans was the regular upscale Magodo neighbour with a wife, kids (infant and toddler), househelp and gateman. He drove himself and had no security apparatus or escort vans. He was totally unassuming and drew no attention to himself. He loved cars and had a black sport car which he’d sometimes park on the street. His next-door neighbour is an ex-naval officer. This raid unsettled the otherwise quiet estate where the Deputy Governor of Lagos state also lives.
By early afternoon, the gunshots were deafening. A closer look revealed, they were out of jubilation rather than combat. One of the security men at Fred Shoboyejo gate explained that Evans had moved out his family and a few other belongings about a week before. He had only come back that morning in a hired vehicle for God-knows-what. The raid was successful and as security operatives brought out heavy bags and a vault - suspected to contain money and weapons, the visibly excited officials shot in the air sporadically, playing loud music from their cars, striking a machete against the tarred road out of joy, dancing and singing, ‘thirty million for the account o…’
Early bystanders claimed Evans had exchanged gunshots with the officials before he was captured. A ritual where a broom was inserted into his private organ was then performed as a sort of spiritual disarming before he was handcuffed. An official was heard lamenting the number of colleagues the force had lost to Evans’ several operations and previous botched raids. He also spoke of trailing the criminal’s wife across Turkey and with Interpol before finally accosting her at the Lagos International airport.
The Inspector-General’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT) led by ACP Kyari has confirmed the capture and promised to parade the kingpin before newsmen at noon, in Lagos, on Sunday.
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