Judge Ebiyerin Omukoro of the Bayelsa High Court was kidnapped from a restaurant in Yenagoa and taken to a neighboring state, according to the suspects.
The eight suspects, six of whom were men and two of whom were women, were paraded in Yenagoa on Thursday by Francis Idu, the commissioner of police for Bayelsa State, and Adedapo Amao, the director of the Department of State Services (DSS).
The suspects reportedly admitted to the crime during their parade and are currently being held by the DSS.
An indigenous member of the Ozobo village in Delta State, Justice Brodrick, one of the main suspects, acknowledged that he joined the kidnapping after receiving a call from a man he identified as his employer.
Therefore, on June 21, he called and asked me to visit Yenagoa. He also called the person standing next to me, John Uzi. Brodrick informed reporters, “I also called my younger brother, Kelvin Olu, to accompany me to Bayelsa.”
According to him, they were given uniforms and a mission vehicle when they arrived in Bayelsa.
“We left our camp,” he added, “but it wasn’t a set aim. Prior to our encounter with the judge at Kilimanjaro (a restaurant), we were only patrolling. Because of this, we went up to him and took him to our camp.
They didn’t know their victim was a judge when they kidnapped him, Brodrick said. But they decided to give him some respect after learning that he was from the Ekeremor Local Government Area.
He claimed that after he revealed that he is Ijaw, our leader, whom we refer to as the “General,” insisted that he be held in handcuffs but treated with the same respect as one of us.
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A second suspect, John, who was paraded as well, stated that he was in the camp when the judge arrived but did not take part in the actual operation because of his poor health.
Earlier, during the State Executive Council meeting on Wednesday, Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri confirmed that everyone engaged in the kidnapping had been caught, with the exception of the gang leader, who is still at large.
Francis Idu, the commissioner of police, credited the arrest to successful interagency cooperation and emphasized the Department of State Services’ deployment of an Abuja-based special operations team.
The placement of CCTV cameras in key locations throughout the state proved beneficial to the operation, and he praised Governor Diri for supplying the logistics that made the rescue possible.
Idu declared, “His Excellency, Governor Douye Diri’s security governance strategy is demonstrated by the arrest of these suspects.”
“He has emphasized time and again the importance of security agencies working together, and this case demonstrates that Bayelsa is no longer a safe place for criminals.”
The state’s police chief also strongly cautioned anyone planning to commit crimes there.
