By Our Reporter
The Bayelsa State Police Command has arrested a key suspect in the June 2015 abduction of a State High Court judge, Justice Eniyerin Omukoro.
The suspect, identified simply as “Ogbono,” was arrested by operatives of Operation Puff Adder. He is reportedly a postgraduate student at a federal university and hails from Ndoro community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Police sources said the suspect was found with an old-model white Hilux van believed to have been used during the abduction. Investigators linked him to the crime through intelligence derived from two mobile phones allegedly left behind at the scene of the kidnapping, which connected him to other suspects earlier arrested.
His arrest followed weeks of surveillance on two properties traced to him in the Edepie area of Yenagoa. He was reportedly apprehended while visiting one of the properties to serve tenants a quit notice. One of the properties had earlier yielded a motorcycle belonging to a dismissed police sergeant suspected to be involved in the case.
A senior police officer said the arrest underscored the commitment of the Bayelsa State Police Command, under Commissioner of Police Daniel Iyamah, to intelligence-led policing and the pursuit of long-standing criminal cases.
Justice Omukoro was abducted on June 21, 2015, from an eatery in the Ekeki area of Yenagoa and was released after spending 12 days in captivity. Eight other suspects—six men and two women—have previously been arrested in connection with the case. A dismissed police sergeant, Obrientele Ebiarede, remains at large.
@Vanguard.