Almost ten years after the abduction of a Bayelsa State High Court judge shook the state judiciary, police say a fresh arrest has reopened investigative leads in the case. Operatives of the Bayelsa State Police Command have taken into custody a man alleged to have played a central role in the 2015 kidnapping of Justice Eniyerin Omukoro.
The suspect, identified by investigators as “Ogbono,” is said to be a postgraduate student at a federal university and a native of Ndoro in Ekeremor Local Government Area. He was arrested by officers attached to Operation Puff Adder following renewed intelligence operations linked to the long-running case.
Police sources disclosed that the suspect was found with an old-model white Toyota Hilux van, which investigators believe was used during the abduction. According to the sources, forensic and intelligence analysis of two mobile phones left behind at the crime scene in 2015 linked the suspect to individuals earlier arrested in connection with the kidnapping.
The arrest reportedly followed weeks of surveillance on two properties owned by the suspect in the Edepie area of Yenagoa. He was said to have been apprehended while visiting one of the properties to serve a quit notice on tenants. Investigators added that the same location had previously yielded a motorcycle traced to a dismissed police officer suspected to have participated in the crime.
Justice Omukoro was abducted on 21 June 2015 at an eatery in the Ekeki area of Yenagoa and was released after spending 12 days in captivity. Police records indicate that eight suspects, six men and two women, have so far been arrested and paraded in connection with the case, while a former police sergeant, Obrientele Ebiarede, remains at large after being dismissed from the force.
