Police parade Bayelsa kidnap kingpin John Ewa, alias ‘John Lyon’

The Bayelsa State Police Command on Monday paraded before the media a kidnap kingpin, John Ewa, known on the social media circuit as John Lyon.

Ewa was arrested in Abuja and alleged to be responsible for high-profile kidnappings in Bayelsa State. He was paraded alongside three members of his gang at the Police Officers Mess, Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa.

The kidnap suspect was arrested by operatives of Operation Puff Adder in Abuja, after which his real identity was revealed, against the alias, John Lyon or Lyon John.

Ewa, reportedly changed his name to John Lyon when he was a dispatch rider at a commercial bank where he was sacked due to alleged involvement in criminal activities at the bank.

The nature of his work as a despatch rider, which entailed running errands for his superiors, gave him access to privileged information about customers, which he allegedly 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 his trail 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 N50 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.

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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 having been involved in only two kidnap incidents and denied being part of the gang that kidnapped Danjuma.

However, in a viral video, Ewa was seen in handcuffs, wearing only a pair of boxers (pant), kneeling on the ground at the premises of Operation Puff Adder in Yenagoa, begging for forgiveness, while denying some of the allegations against him.

“I was not involved in your kidnap (referring to the Danjuma case). 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,” the villain begged.

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 brutalising him.

Vanguard reports that a Police source said a close friend of Ewa, who is an in-law of a governorship candidate of one of the major political parties in the state, is also in Police custody answering questions on the kidnap incidents in the state.

According to the source, barring any change of plans, Ewa should be paraded before the media this week.