John Ewa, a kidnap kingpin arrested in Abuja and responsible for high-profile kidnappings in Bayelsa State was on Monday paraded alongside three members of his gang by the police at the Police Officers Mess, Yenagoa Bayelsa State.
The kidnap suspect was arrested by operatives of Operation Puff Adder in Abuja, after which his real identity was revealed.
As against the trick of the name Lyon John that trended on social media, the suspect’s real name was discovered to be John Ewa.
John Ewa changed his name to John Lyon when he was a dispatch rider at a commercial bank after he was sacked due alleged involvement in criminal activities at the bank.
Ewa, it was learnt, while working at the bank, had run several errands for his superior which gave him access to privileged information which was supplied to criminal elements to carry out operations.
After his appointment was terminated, Ewa was said to have recruited boys to run a kidnap syndicate with specialisation in kidnapping high profile residents of the state.
According to investigations, operatives of Puff Adder got on the trail of Ewa after the arrest of two suspects, Kingsley Innocent and Godlives Donald involved in the kidnap of Mr Danjuma Emeije a manager with Premium Trust Bank Yenagoa.
Emeije was kidnapped on June 30 2022 and was released after he was said to have parted with a ransom of 50 Million.
Police sources said Ewa, who runs Lyon Interior hub as cover for his criminal activities, is known for his lavish lifestyle and heavy spending at night clubs in Yenagoa.
He was said to have masterminded the kidnap of the sister to former governor Seriake Dickson and top Igbo businessmen forcing many of them to relocate from the state.
During interrogation, Police sources said Ewa confessed to have been involved in only two kidnap incidents and denied being part of the gang that kidnapped Danjuma.
Alabingo.com reported Ewa’s story which first trended on social media on Sunday. In a viral video, Ewa was seen in handcuffs wearing a boxer at the premises of Operation Puff Adder Yenagoa.
In the viral video, he was seen begging the Police officers to forgive him noting that his wife just gave birth.
“I was not involved in your kidnap (referring to Danjuma). There is a guy they always call for a job, his name is Millow. Please, sir, forgive me. I was not involved in your matter. Please Sir my wife just gave birth”
According to police sources, Ewa had gone to Premium Trust Bank pretending to be making inquiries on opening an account for his children but was actually gathering information about Danjuma.
Danjuma, who was also at the premises of Puff Adder insisted that he could recognise Ewa as one of the kidnappers who was on a couch while his gang members were brutalizing him.
At the police headquarters in Bayelsa on Monday, Lyon Ewa said he is not part of the kidnap syndicate, adding that his mother was in the hospital during the operations.
He however admitted that he was given N1.5 million to identify the houses of victims.“I’m not part of it (operations), I was misled to show them where this person is. I wasn’t involved in it,” he said.
“I’m not in the business (kidnap), I didn’t approach Danjuma, I only went there to open an account.”
He also admitted that he was given N3.5 million for his involvement in the kidnap of another victim identified as Hakeem.
“I didn’t play any role in Hakeem’s kidnap, I just showed them his house. We were driving and I pointed to the house. It was my former boss’s house, that was it,” he added.
His alleged accomplice, who was identified as Emma, claimed that Lyon Ewa approached him and other gang members with the proposal to kidnap Hakeem and Danjuma.
“He is lying. I didn’t give him money, it wasn’t me that gave him money. I don’t know those people from anywhere. He is the one that worked with them, I don’t know anything about them,” he said.
“He was the one that brought the Hakeem and Danjuma jobs. If anyone can reason, someone that brought a job would have more money than any other person, so why is he lying?
“He brought the job…. [saying] that they sacked him from work and they have money, so let’s kidnap them. Heaven knows I know nothing about those people.”
Leave a Reply