The Police Command in Bayelsa on Sunday confirmed the abduction of Justice E.J. Umokoro in Yenagoa, the state capital.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Musa Mohammed confirmed the alleged kidnap of the Judge on Sunday in Yenagoa.
“Umokoro, a judge at Bayelsa State High Court was on Saturday evening abducted from his car at a fast-food outlet at Ekeki area of Yenagoa.
“The command has deployed tactica teams and drones to trail and arrest the hoodlums,” he said.
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The News Agency of Nigeria learnt that the gunmen fired sporadically at the car park of the eatery before forcing the judge out of his vehicle and whisking him away in a waiting Toyota Hilux.
The judge had been waiting for his daughter, who had gone into the outlet to make some purchases.
Eye-witnese accounts said Umokoro of Yenagoa High Court 7 was kidnapped in front of a popular eatery known as Kilimanjaro, Ekeki, about 7 pm.
Witnesses at the scene of the crime stated that the hooded gunmen, clad in black uniforms, shot at him but missed.
They blocked him with an unmarked white Hilux van and whisked him away.
The masked gunmen did not take away the black Toyota Prado jeep in which he was riding at the time of his abduction.
A video of the crime scene was posted on Facebook by a blogger, “This is Bayelsa.”
In the video, which is trending on social media, the victim was seen struggling with his abductors, who forced him into the white Hilux before driving away.
The incident threw the area into pandemonium as people scampered for safety.
Crediblenewsng.com
