FAMILY HOUSE WHERE EVANS' WIFE LIVED BEFORE SHE GOT MARRIED (PHOTO)

Interaction with Mr. Chukwuemeka Okoye, brother-in-law of the notorious pest suspect, Mr. Chidumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, in the sleepy village of Awo-Oraifite in the Ekwusigo region of Anambra State, an impression of a family in abject poverty.

Chukwuemeka told Sunday Vanguard that her parents had 13 children, saying they all had to struggle to make ends meet by engaging in bonded jobs. So it was not surprising that Uchenna, the wife of Evans and the last of the 13 children, had to marry early to leave the poor.

The location of the Okoye's house in the village was difficult because it was expected that the in-laws of a man who counted money in millions, both in local and strong currency, while his presumed escapades lasted, should be among the best in the community. But it was not like the unfenced, unleaded bungalow, where the family lived visibly stood in the area.
However, Chukwuemeka's six-person family, as well as the unmarried elder sister of Evans' wife, were found in the house built in the village by one of her brothers living in South Africa. To express how the suspected kidnapper's wife originated from Chukwuemeka, a farmer and construction worker, said her sister had not visited the house since her marriage in 2006. According to him, he returned from North a few years ago. He was an apprentice following the disturbances in many cities in this part of the country.

At home, and due to lack of support, he learned to be a mechanic, but had to give up work when he had a fracture by lifting a car engine. The encounter with Chukwuemeka began earlier, as he returned with a bike undressed, while research was being done on the family, with a bunch of mani sticks tied behind him. He welcomed the visitor and told the story of his family.

He said: “Our late father was already bedridden when Evans married Uchenna, our sister. My sister knew how difficult it was for the family and how sick our father was, but, after her marriage, no member of the family set eyes or heard from her up till now. For the eight years that our father was sick before he died in 2014 , Uchenna neither visited nor sent anybody to know how the family was coping. Sometimes I say to myself that it is possible that Evans charmed my sister because this was a girl that was very caring and homely. For her to abandon the family did not look normal to me.

“During the burial of our father, it was her father in-law, Mr. Stephen Onwuamadike, that came with his relations and could not even fulfill the conditions required during such situation in Igbo land. Uchenna and her husband, Evans, did not come to the village for the burial.

“For some years now, our mother has been down with diabetes and one of my brothers living in the North had to take her to keep close watch on her. She would have preferred staying at home, but having seen that it would be extremely difficult for me to manage the sickness due to lack of financial resources, she agreed to go to the North.

“My sister and her husband have not been communicating with us and we don’t even know where they live. There was a time someone said they were living abroad. I am, therefore, shocked to hear that Uchenna’s husband is a suspected kidnapper and that he had made so much money.

“My sister that I knew would have escaped from his house if she found out that the man she married is a kidnapper and that is why I say that everything is not normal with her. I had not even left this village for apprentice in the North when she got married and I am now married with four children and my sister does not know whether I am alive or not. It is even possible that I might not recognize her if I see her, not to talk of knowing her children. My wife here (pointing at her where she was seated and listening) does not know about her because we have never discussed anything about Uchenna. I am also surprised to hear that she has five children.

“My elder brother once told me that he communicated with her and there is no way I could know their present predicament because I do not watch television, neither do I have a mobile phone that can be used for browsing. I cannot even identify my brother in-law, Evans, if we meet anywhere because the last time I set eyes on him was the day she came here and took my sister away 11 years ago.”

Chukwuemeka, however, pleaded to the government to give her sister and her husband a second chance, believing they would turn a new leaf, after seeing where the crimes had landed him.

The cousin of Evans' wife, Reverend Emmanuel Okoye, a priest of the Anglican Church, corroborated Chukwuemeka's story, saying that they did not know much about Uchenna because he did not communicate with the family , Adding that he only knew the current situation via the internet.

He said: “We were all living in that house (pointing at the bungalow), but as the family became larger, coupled with frequent family squabbles, we left the house because it was built by their father. I have not asked her immediate family about what I saw on the internet concerning her and husband because we have not been relating as we should.”

Ngozi Nwaka, a small shopkeeper, who said she knew Uchenna when she was at Awo Primary School, Oraifite, near the Okoye family home, expressed surprise when her name was mentioned because of the fact she had not heard or had seen her since she was married. Although Ms. Nwaka said she heard about Evans the abductor as he regularly showed on television, she never associated him with Uchenna because the couple had not visited Oraifite.

She told Sunday Vanguard that Uchenna was an average student in her class, although she did not plan to go to high school because the parents were poor, adding that she was among the first comrades of their age to get married .

Many villagers told Sunday Vanguard that they did not know that Evans' wife came from the area. Although some people said they read about Evans, who was described as the most notorious abductor in the country, he was surprised that he was married to their relatives. A commercial motorcycle operator, Francis Odinuko, recalled how a suspected kidnapper of Ifite-Oraifite, Olisagbo Ifedike, aka Ofe Akwu, attracted so much attention in the region during the administration of the former governor Peter Obi, who led the security guards to demolish two magnificent buildings owned by Ofe Akwu on September 5, 2012, adding that until this demolition, most people thought that Ofe Akwu was a businessman.

Odinujo said that Evans's parents-in-law must be lucky that he did not build a house in their compound because such a house would have been demolished in accordance with the Anambra government's policy. Odunuko said he was going to Umudim, Nnewi, when the news of Evans broke out, not knowing that his wife is native to his hometown, Awo-Oraifite.

He urged the government not to trade mercy for Evans, arguing that the kidnappers are wicked people who have to pay for their crime.

“Not minding that the wife is from my town, Evans should face the music because of the suffering he inflicted on many families and innocent people who he denied freedom,” the commercial motorcycle operator said. He also suggested that the monies recovered from Evans should be used to take care of those who suffered in his hands at various times.