Justice Ebiyerin Omukoro of the Bayelsa State High Court has been freed 12 days after his abduction by masked gunmen in Yenagoa.
The judge was kidnapped on June 21, 2025, at Kilimanjaro Eatery near Ekeki Park shortly after returning from a trip to Warri, Delta State.
Confirming his release on Thursday, Justice Omukoro described the ordeal as traumatic, saying, “I was beginning to give up… I still couldn’t come to terms with the fact that I had been abducted, kidnapped, kept in the jungle by hoodlums masquerading as security men. But we thank God—He was always there for me.”
He expressed gratitude to security agencies, the judiciary, and his family, crediting their “synergy” for his safe return.
Before his release, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Yenagoa Branch, revealed that security operatives had traced the kidnappers through “digital footprints,” though no ransom demands were made.
Eyewitnesses initially mistook the abduction for a security operation, as the incident occurred near a police station.
The NBA had condemned the kidnapping as “an attack on the judiciary” and declared a statewide court boycott, demanding better protection for judicial officers.
Authorities have yet to issue an official statement on the case.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
