The grim search for a prominent Bayelsa property developer came to a heartbreaking close on Saturday evening, as police operatives recovered the decomposing body of Mr. Ekpeboh Richard in a remote forested area of Ogbia Local Government Area.
The Bayelsa State Police Command confirmed the discovery, describing the scene as deeply disturbing. Richard, Vice Chairman of the Real Estate Consultants Association of Bayelsa State and a respected figure in the regional property sector, had been reported missing days earlier. He was last seen on July 24 after leaving his home, sparking widespread concern and a coordinated search effort.
According to police sources, officers attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), acting on intelligence, located the body around 6:00 p.m. in a swampy stretch of woodland between the NDDC IDP Camp Road and Otuokpoti. Preliminary forensic assessments suggest that Richard was executed at close range with a gunshot to the head a brutal killing that investigators believe was carried out with chilling precision.
Traces of a struggle were visible at the site. A single piece of footwear, believed to belong to the victim, lay near the body, which had been partially concealed in underbrush. The late Richard’s vehicle, a Toyota Matrix, was stolen from the scene, reportedly used by the assailants to make their escape.
Family members first sounded the alarm in the early hours of July 25, after the father of two failed to return home. His wife grew more concerned after receiving a series of unusual WhatsApp messages from his phone. The tone and content of the messages were uncharacteristic, with one even suggesting the use of a Point-of-Sale operator to send a ₦15,300 transaction a deviation from Richard’s usual financial habits.
Suspicion deepened when the messages referenced unresolved debts totaling over ₦12 million, allegedly owed to unnamed associates in the real estate industry. Police now believe the messages were a ruse, crafted by his abductors to delay alarm and obscure the true nature of his disappearance.
Using a combination of community-based intelligence, youth mobilization, and eyewitness reports, officers led by CSP Bishop Elemide mounted a targeted search. Witnesses reported seeing two unidentified men forcibly dragging Richard from a blue Honda V-Boot into the forest. Gunshots were heard moments later.
The State Criminal Investigation Department’s Homicide Unit has since taken over the case. Investigators are said to be pursuing two principal lines of inquiry: a possible professional dispute and potential links to organized cybercrime or illicit financial activity.
“We are exploring every angle,” a senior police official told this newspaper. “This was not a random act. It was calculated, cold-blooded, and we are determined to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
While Commissioner of Police Francis Idu remains on assignment in Abuja, he has been fully briefed on the developments and has directed an intensification of efforts to track down those responsible.
The murder of Mr. Richard a native of Amassoma in Southern Ijaw and a rising figure in Bayelsa’s real estate landscape has sent shockwaves through the state. Colleagues, friends, and clients describe him as visionary, driven, and deeply committed to ethical practice in a sector often clouded by controversy.
As police deepen their investigation, the state grapples with the loss of one of its entrepreneurial lights silenced in a crime that has both shaken and galvanized a community.
