The police in Enugu have arrested Moses Uche Amajor, one of the top suspects in the kidnap and disappearance of Lotachukwu Ezeudu, a second year accountancy student at the University of Nigeria (Enugu campus).
The police in Enugu have arrested Moses Uche Amajor, one of the top suspects in the kidnap and disappearance of Lotachukwu Ezeudu, a second year accountancy student at the University of Nigeria (Enugu campus).
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“I can confirm that we have arrested Moses Amajor, and he is currently in prison custody,” said one of our police sources. He described Amajor’s arrest as a major breakthrough in the investigation and prosecution of those who plotted and carried out Mr. Lota Ezeudu’s kidnap on September 26, 2009.
The source disclosed that Mr. Amajor, who had been on the run for close to a year and a half, was apprehended some two weeks ago.
A senior officer in the Enugu Police Command praised SaharaReporters for playing a big role in the arrest of Amajor whose Kaduna-based father owns Prosper Hotel in Trans-Ekulu Layout in Enugu. One source said the fugitive’s relatives handed him over as prosecutors prepared to go after his parents believed to be hiding him.
Moses Uche Amajor is an indigene of Umundere village in Umuahia South Local Government Area in Abia State.
Mr. Amajor was a former student at Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT). A lecturer at the university told SaharaReporters that Amajor was a “notorious cultist on campus here and spent eight years studying for an engineering degree that should have taken no more than five years.”
Another police source told us that Moses Amajor had made several unsuccessful attempts to kidnap Lotachukwu Ezeudu. Then, in 2009, Amajor conspired with others to kidnap the 19-year-old Ezeudu. “We have found out so far that the victim finally fell into their trap through the aid of his secondary school classmate, Nnaemeka Chukwu.” Nnaemeka Chukwu is the son of Sam Chukwu, a former Divisional Police Officer (DPO). DPO Chukwu, who is now on the run, has been named as a major suspect in the kidnap of Lota Ezeudu. Police and prosecution sources told SaharaReporters that the fugitive DPO operated a ring of kidnappers who specialized in ambushing tanker drivers transporting fuel.
A prosecutor expressed dismay that Charles and Patience Amajor, the parents of Moses Amajor, kept their son from authorities for more than a year. The irate attorney said that Mr. and Mrs. Amajor, who reside at 7A Rahama Road, in Kakuri, GRA Kaduna have displayed “callous disregard for the law and deserve to be treated as minor accessories to the crime – for hiding their son for over one year.”
Several sources said that the apprehended fugitive, Moses Amajor, had been coached to make false statements, to show false documents, and to try to provide a false alibi. “However, his lies cannot exculpate him as the other accused persons in prison custody easily identified him and named him as their main hit man,” said a source.
A source told SaharaReporters that investigators are interesting in finding and questioning one Chioma Offor, Moses Amajor's girlfriend. Ms. Offor, who hails from Aku, near Nsukka, is currently on the run. Our source disclosed that Ms. Offor used to reside at 11 Christ the King Street in Phase Six, Trans Ekulu. It was at that same address that police arrested Ernest Okeke, one of the kidnappers. Mr. Okeke, who is also in prison custody, has been identified as “one of DPO Sam Chukwu's boys.” Okeke is a dismissed police officer who had other cases of armed robbery and kidnapping pending against him at the time of his involvement in the kidnap of Lota Ezeudu.
A prosecutor source revealed to SaharaReporters that the ransom cash paid by Lotachukwu's parents in 2009 was dropped in a waste bin very close to Chioma Offor's residence. The source added that a V-Boot Mercedes Benz car parked next to the bin was identified as belonging to Mr. Sam Chukwu. Police investigators revealed that two cars used in the kidnap of Lota Ezeudu have yet to be found.
Our sources disclosed that Moses Uche Amajor is to be arraigned in court soon.
Meanwhile, a prosecutor in the case said that some of the arrested suspects have stated that Desmond Chinwuba, one of the top suspects still on the run, might be in Malaysia. When SaharaReporters contacted a Malaysian official, we were told that the country would respond to a request to look for Mr. Chinwuba if a formal request is made by Nigeria’s law enforcement. The official said he could not say whether such a request had been received from Nigerian authorities.
Meanwhile, prosecution said they would be constrained to declare Mr. Sam Chukwu a wanted fugitive unless he voluntarily presented himself in court at the next hearing.
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