Operatives of the Inspector General of Police Violent Crime Response Unit in Bayelsa State have arrested a key suspect in the abduction of a State High Court judge, Justice E.G. Omukoro, more than five months after the crime, following an extended surveillance operation that tracked the suspect across state lines until his return to Yenagoa.
The arrested suspect, identified as 39-year-old Ogbonna-Otu Emizibo Dennis, popularly known as Ogbono and a native of Ekeremor Local Government Area, was identified by Justice Omukoro during a suspect parade, according to police and judiciary sources. Intelligence officers had been deployed around his residence for more than five months awaiting his return.
Investigations revealed that the suspect was the owner of the white Hilux vehicle used by the kidnapping gang during the abduction and was also linked to a property along School Road in Edepie that the gang allegedly used as a planning base for the abduction of the judge and a separate victim, the owner of Ruthmore Hotel.
A motorcycle recovered in the compound, allegedly owned by a dismissed and declared wanted police sergeant, was reportedly used by gang members to procure food and other supplies for their victims at their camp in the Orkaki forest area on the boundary between Rivers and Bayelsa states.
The investigating team from Operation Puff Adder, now reconstituted as the Violent Crime Response Unit and led by CSP Chris Nwaogbo, concluded its investigation and handed the case file to the Department of Public Prosecution of the state judiciary. The investigating team recommended among other measures that the state government invoke the relevant provision of the State Kidnapping and Allied Offences Law for temporary forfeiture of the suspect’s property pending the outcome of prosecution.
Justice Omukoro was abducted by masked gunmen in Yenagoa on June 21, 2025 and held for 12 days before being released unharmed on July 3, 2025.
