Estate agent’s murder: Bayelsa Govt wades into case, moves to prosecute five By Chris Mark
Estate agent’s murder: Bayelsa Govt wades into case, moves to prosecute five
By Chris Mark
The Bayelsa State Government has taken over the prosecution of suspects linked to the killing of a 42-year-old estate agent, Richard Ekpebu.
The State Ministry of Justice confirmed that it has assumed responsibility for prosecuting the case following the conclusion of police investigations into the matter.
Operatives of Operation Puff Adder, a tactical team of the Nigeria Police Force in Bayelsa State, led by CSP Chris Nwaogbo, had last year arrested the suspects after what security sources described as diligent and thorough investigations spanning Lagos, Port Harcourt and Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
Senior litigation officers at the Ministry of Justice disclosed that the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had directed the police to forward the case file for immediate review and prosecution.
The DPP’s office, headed by Barr. Peretimi Judith Peterside, is currently studying the voluminous case file handed over by Operation Puff Adder of the State Police Command.
Those expected to face prosecution include the alleged prime suspect, 40-year-old George Idumange; his girlfriend, 23-year-old Miss Henry Victory Bernard; a prison warden with an Assistant Superintendent of Police equivalent rank, Ekiamene Amaoniye Alex, popularly known as “Cash Money”; 34-year-old Ibo Imaremi Gold, alias “Police”; and 35-year-old Henry Igwe.
Investigations revealed that the case file was formally transferred to the Ministry of Justice under the directive of the former Commissioner of Police, Mr Francis Idu.
Although the specific charges to be filed against the five accused persons have yet to be made public, sources close to the case indicated that the nature of their involvement would determine the charges preferred against them.
The suspects are expected to face charges bordering on conspiracy to kidnap, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit murder, murder, conspiracy to obtain money under false pretence, destruction of evidence, and illegal possession of firearms, among others.
Recall that the Bayelsa State Command of the Nigeria Police Force in September 2025 paraded George Idumange in connection with the killing of Ekpebu in Yenagoa.
It was further gathered that operatives of Operation Puff Adder, in collaboration with officials of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Festac Town, Lagos, rejected a N4 million bribe allegedly offered by Idumange to evade arrest. He was also said to have offered N3 million to police officers to delete certain files from his mobile phone.
Ekpebu was reportedly murdered over a land transaction, with his body later discovered in a bush along the New Otuoke Road near Bayelsa Palm on July 24, 2025.
