Jimoh Moshood, Public Relations Officer of the Police, says it was the court, not the police, that released Emeka, the man initially thought to have betrayed Donatus Duru, his employer, to Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike aka Evans.
Moshood gave the explanation on AIT’s breakfast programme, Kaakaki, on Monday.
He said Emeka was granted bail because there was no proof that he actually provided the information that led to the kidnap of Duru.
According to Moshood, Evans himself confessed that he did not know who Emeka was, saying that it was one Baba Eko, an Igbo man who goes with a Yoruba alias, who provided information on the kidnap of Duru. Baba Eko is still at large.
“The case of Emeka has been mentioned before the court and there’s no reason why we have to still keep him after we have questioned his alibi and we have been able to find out from Evans that he is not part of the gang.
“We don’t have the right to release kidnap suspects; it is not bailable at the level of the police because it is a capital offence now in most of the states so we have to take them to court.
“So the court decided in its wisdom to use its discretion in granting him bail. Granting him bail is not the end of the matter; the matter is still coming up. He has not been discharged, he has not been acquitted. So if there are further evidences, why not we tender them in court.
“So we want Emeka to exercise restraint and to be patient that the full weight of the law will be visited on anybody responsible for the kidnap.”
When asked why he thought Duru accused his employee of aiding his kidnap, Moshood said: “I wouldn’t want to be dragged into this but since you have mentioned it I’ll just say a little about this. I believe that Emeka and Duru may have other issues; we wouldn’t know that.
“Because we believe Emeka is a pharmacist while Donatus is a business man, probably… I don’t have this responsibility so that somebody doesn’t take me to court and start asking for what have you.
“But we know that there are issues between them… our concern is to investigate the case of kidnapping.”
Moshood, however, stressed that “Emeka was not released before Evans was arrested. Emeka was released by the court, not the police”.
Asked if Evans was protecting Emeka, Moshood answered: “No, no, no. There’s nothing like that. Evans in custody protecting Emeka? No
“The matter is coming up on the 17th. If there’s any Nigerian even outside Donatus who has any additional information, they can make it available to the court.”
On provision of adequate protection for Duru, who escaped from Evans kidnap gang, Moshood said: “Donatus is very very vital to our investigation and we will do all our best to continue to protect him.
“But if he observes that the protection is not enough like I’ve said, he should meet the Commissioner of Police Lagos State and it would be improved upon because he is very vital to our investigation.”