Fresh Breakthrough As Police Capture Key Suspect In Justice Omukoro Kidnap Case

Operatives of the newly created Inspector General of Police (IGP) Violent Crime Response Unit of the Bayelsa State Police Command have arrested another key suspect connected to the abduction of a Bayelsa State High Court Judge, Justice E.

G. Omukoro.
The suspect was arrested at a popular eatery in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
According to police and judiciary sources, the suspect was identified as 39-year-old Ogbonna-Otu Emizibo Dennis, popularly known as Ogbono, an indigene of Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state.
Security operatives reportedly kept surveillance around his residence for more than five months before his eventual return and arrest. Sources disclosed that Justice E.G. Omukoro identified him during a suspect parade.
The suspect claimed that the white Hilux vehicle found in his possession had already been returned to its owner, a retired Brigadier General, after he completed a driving assignment. However, a close family member contradicted the claim, alleging that the suspect still had the vehicle at the time of the abduction.
Investigations further revealed that Ogbonna-Otu Emizibo Dennis allegedly owned the white Hilux van used by the kidnapping gang during the operation.
He was also identified as the owner of a house located along School Road in Edepie, which investigators alleged served as the operational base for the abduction of both Justice Omukoro and Aladei Godsave, owner of Ruthmore Hotel.
The arresting team, led by Commander Chris Nwaogbo, also recovered a motorcycle belonging to one of the suspected kidnappers from the suspect’s compound.
The motorcycle was allegedly owned by dismissed and wanted Police Sergeant Obrientele Ebiarede. Investigators said it was used to purchase food and other supplies for victims held at the gang’s camp in the Orkaki bush area along the Bayelsa-Rivers boundary.
A senior police officer in the state command attributed the success of the investigation to the continuous support provided by the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, CP Iyamah Daniel Edebor, and the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, toward diligent policing and investigation.
Sources also disclosed that the Operation Puff Adder team, now renamed the Violent Crime Response Unit (VCRU) and led by CSP Chris Nwaogbo, has concluded investigations and transferred the case file to the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the state judiciary.
A source within the Ministry of Justice confirmed that the police investigation team recommended that the Bayelsa State Government invoke Section 7 of the Bayelsa State Kidnapping and Allied Offences Law, 2013, for the temporary forfeiture of the suspect’s house pending the outcome of prosecution.
Justice E.G. Omukoro was kidnapped by masked gunmen in Yenagoa on June 21, 2025, and was held captive for 12 days before regaining freedom unharmed on July 3, 2025.
The judge was abducted after the gunmen reportedly blocked his vehicle with a white Hilux van.
Several suspects had earlier been arrested in connection with the incident, including some apprehended in Ekeremor. Some of the suspects reportedly confessed that they stumbled upon the judge by chance rather than deliberately targeting him, although they kept him in captivity for nearly two weeks.