John Ikechukwu Ewa, aka, ‘John Lion’, suspected kidnap kingpin and his alleged gang member, Emmanuel Angese, were arraigned on Wednesday before a Bayelsa State High Court sitting in Yenagoa on a 14-count charge bordering on kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy.
John Lion made waves on social media after pictures and videos of him wearing the All Progressives Congress, APC, branded shirts and seen in political circles surfaced after his arrest, recently.
They were arraigned under Sections 2; 329 and 404 of the Bayelsa State Kidnapping and other Allied Offences Law, 2013.
The charges were read and interpreted to the two defendants in the English Language and pidgin English by the clerk of the court.
Both Ewa and Angese pleaded not guilty to all the charges, saying they understood the charges as read to them.
In particular, they are accused of kidnapping Danjuma Omeje; Akeem Olushola; Chinonso Ezeonyemere; Chigozie; Ajanami Oyintari; Anthony Ajanami; Christiana Ajanami; and Ebuka; between June 2020 and November 2021 and collecting various ransoms.
The ransoms ranged from N15m, N16.8m to N41m, N60m and N100m which were paid to them in Naira and Dollar currencies at various times to free their victims.
The prosecution counsel and Director of Public Prosecutions in Bayelsa State, Apulu Iyobosa, in an application, urged the court to order the remand of the defendants at the Okaka Correctional Centre in Yenagoa.
However, the counsel to the defendants, Adam Gbaranma, did not oppose the application.
The presiding judge, Justice Iniekade Eradiri, therefore, adjourned the matter to December 5 and 21, 2022 for trial and ruled that the suspects be remanded.
In September, the state police command paraded John Ikechukwu Ewa alias ‘John Lion’, and Emmanuel Angese alongside Innocent Kingsley and Timi Werikumo for the alleged kidnapping of Danjuma Omeje, Akeem Olushola and others.
The police apprehended Ewa, a socialite, in Abuja, and brought him to Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.