Judge Fines Evans' Lawyer 20,000 For 'professional Misconduct'

Olukoya Ogungbeje, the lawyer representing billionaire kidnapper Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans was awarded a cost of N20,000 by Justice Abdulazeez Anka of a Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, Thursday 13th July 2017.

Ogungbeje was fined for professional misconduct as he failed to show up for the fundamental rights suit filed on behalf of Evans by him, over alleged illegal detention and instead sent Stephen Abunike, a litigation officer from his law firm, who told the court that his principal was indisposed and had written a letter seeking an adjournment.

Emmanuel Eze,  who represented Lagos State Commissioner of Police, opposed Ogungbeje?s application for adjournment. According to him, he wasn't informed about their plans, adding that another lawyer from Ogunbeje's firm could have easily come to represent Evans.

According to him, it is an ?affront? to the court for Ogungbeje not to send another lawyer to stand in for him.

    ?In view of this, we are of the view that the applicant?s counsel is most unserious with this application. We, therefore, ask for a punitive cost of N100,000 against the applicant and his counsel,? he said.

The judge however awarded a disciplinary cost of N20,000 against Mr. Ogungbeje which must be paid before July 20,  for what he described as unprofessional conduct. He said:
   
    ?Counsel wrote a letter seeking for an adjournment without copying the prosecution. This, to me, is unprofessional. The court hereby warns counsel to desist from such type of practice.?

The judge further warned Ogunbeje to desist from practices unbecoming of a legal practitioner.  He also said the facts before him showed that Evans was still in police custody.

"Evans is still in our custody"-Police

The Nigeria police force has denied media reports
that notorious kidnapper, Evans, has vanished
from police cell. Earlier today, The Sun Newspaper
published a report alleging that the kidnapper
who was arrested on June 10th in Lagos, was no
longer in Lagos police custody and his
whereabouts was no longer known.
Denying the reports, the Force spokesperson,
Jimoh Moshood who spoke to newsmen this
morning, said;
        "The media need to avoid stories that
could create fear, tension or
misrepresentation among the masses.
Where did Evans vanish to? That headline
was misleading. The suspect and his
accomplices are very much in our
custody. We are working hard to ensure
that justice is served at the end of the day.
There are certain information that are not
for public consumption to avoid
jeopardising investigation or even national
security. Evans is with the police. His
whereabouts is known but cannot be
made public. We are appealing to
Nigerians to remain calm and support the
police to conclude its investigation.”he
said.

Evans vanished from police custody

According to a report be Saturday Sun, billionaire
kidnapper, Evans has vanished from police
custody and taken to an unknown location. Read
their report below...
               Saturday Sun has gathered that Evans is
not dead as his family now fears but has
been moved from the Lagos police
command headquarters cell by about 30
heavily armed men at midnight few days
ago to an undisclosed destination. Some
senior police officers in the know told
Saturday Sun he was moved to Abuja
Indeed, in the last few days, a palpable
silence seemed to have enshrouded the
Evans phenomenon.
Where is Evans? It is a question the police
is not prepared to officially answer right
now. A man who hitherto divulged the
details of his criminal life to the public
almost on a daily basis is suddenly no
longer accessible to even the press corps.
All a Saturday Sun reporter who visited
the state police command was told was
that Evans is no longer allowed to talk to
the press till further notice.
The secrecy surrounding his whereabouts
in the official quarters baffles those who
have closely followed his story since his
arrest.
After days of sniffing around the Lagos
police formations to get information on
Evans whereabouts, it was gathered that
the kidnap kingpin had been moved out of
the Lagos command headquarters days
ago by heavily armed policemen and is
yet to be returned.
Police had last week said they had got a
court order to detain him for three months
to give them enough time to complete
their investigation. This followed two suits
filed by Evans lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje,
at the High Court seeking his release and
claiming N300m damages from the police.
Some senior police officers who spoke to
Saturday Sun on condition of anonymity
expressed fears that Evans might not
make it to the court.
They argued that he might plot his escape
from prison, or get across to some of his
members who are still on the run. Their
concerns are not farfetched, given that
several inmates in the past had reportedly
committed much heinous crimes even
while in prison.
Some of the officers confirmed that Evans
was no longer in the police cell in Lagos.
“He has not been returned since he was
moved out. Evans is a broken man; police
can’t resort to extra-judicial killings at this
point. He is cooperating, and he is ready
to help return all his ill-gotten wealth as
soon as possible”, one of the officers
said.
Another reliable source at the police
command told Saturday Sun “Evans is not
an ordinary criminal. I guess that they
took him out for further investigation but I
don’t know why they are yet to return him
to his cell.” The source further assured:
“No one is planning to kill Evans. I believe
that they will return him later. He could be
in any good cell in the state for security
reasons, but I can assure you that he is
not dead yet. Even if anything happens to
him, if he dies in custody, it will be as a
result of cancer which he claims he is
suffering from.”