Justice Ebiyerin Omukoro, the Bayelsa high court judge who was kidnapped and freed recently, received preferential treatment while in the kidnappers’ den, according to the suspected kidnappers.
This is even as it has been revealed that the arrest of the suspected kidnappers partly became possible because of the CCTV camera mounted by the state government i parts of the state capital.
On Thursday, while being paraded before journalists, one of the suspects, Justice Brodrick, who hails from Ozobo community in Delta State, admitted being part of the kidnap operation after a man he referred to as his boss informed him about it.
He said upon arrival in Yenagoa, they were given uniforms and vehicles for the operation and that they immediately swung into action.
The suspect said Omukoro was taken from the premises of an eatery at the Ekeki area of Yenagoa and moved to a location in a neighbouring state. He, however, claimed they had no actual target but stumbled on the Judge.
Broderick said their victim was immediately moved to their camp and that when he told them he is Ijaw from Ekeremor Local Government Area, they decided to “treat him well.”
He also stated that the man referred to as their General insisted that their victim be kept in handcuffs but he claimed that being a fellow Ijaw man, he should be treated with care.
His words: “So, he called me on June 21 that I should come to Yenagoa. He also called John Uzi, the person that is beside me. And I called Kelvin Olu, my younger brother, to come with me to Bayelsa.
“We mobilized the vehicle for the movement and uniforms were provided. We moved from our camp, and it was not a fixed target. We were just patrolling before we met the Judge at Kilimanjaro. So, we approached him and kidnapped him from there to our camp.”
On Wednesday, during the state executive council meeting, the state governor, Senator Douye Diri had disclosed that all the suspects involved in the kidnap of the jurist on June 21, 2025 had been apprehended except for the gang leader that was still at large.
Another suspect, who identified himself as John, said he was contacted but did not join in the operation as he was not feeling well and that he was in the camp when the victim was brought in.
The commissioner of police, Mr. Francis Idu, who also spoke said the arrest of the suspects was a testimony to the security governance measures of Governor Diri, who he said always insisted that security agencies work together to ensure that the state was free of crime and criminality.
He said the DSS sent a special team from Abuja for the operation, which led to the arrest of the suspects, including the two females that were their accomplices.
The police chief lauded the governor for providing the necessary logistics for the operation, saying the CCTV cameras mounted by the government in parts of the state were useful throughout the rescue operation and their eventual arrest.
He warned that with the suspects confessing to the crime, those with criminal intent in the state should have a rethink as Bayelsa was no longer a safe haven for criminals.
