Former Nigeria international Chikelue Iloenyosi has claimed that the notorious kidnapper Chukwudubem Onwuamadike, otherwise known as Evans, murdered his father Chief James Iloenyosi.

The 86-year-old was returning from church when three SUVs double-crossed him and whisked him away, and the kidnappers contacted the family after five days to demand a ransom of N50 million, which was eventually reduced to N15 million.

''When we paid the N15m, my father was already dead and we did not know,'' Chikelue Iloenyosi told The Punch.

''What made me upset was that despite how seriously we worked to get him back, my father did not come out of it alive.''

A member of the kidnap gang was arrested in Lokoja after months of investigations and he confessed that Evans was their leader, but all efforts made to arrest him proved abortive.

Pa Iloenyosi was said to have been stripped to his underwear, kept in a cold room and beaten regularly in order to put more pressure on his children, before he passed away.

''What Evans did to my family was the most painful thing anybody can experience. When I read he has been begging for sympathy, I just laughed.

''The death penalty for people like him is the only solution. Evans can never repent despite all the second chance he is begging for,'' Chikelue Iloenyosi added.

Chikelue Iloenyosi played professionally for Fenerbahçe, Tennis Borussia Berlin, çaykur Rizespor, Ittihad FC and Asteras Tripoli, and represented Nigeria at the 1999 Fifa U20 World Cup.

Igho Kingsley