Missing Bayelsa State real estate tycoon, Ekpeboh Richard, has been killed.
Police found Richard’s bullet-riddled body in a forest around the NDDC IDP Camp Road in Ogbia Local Government Area around 6 p.m. yesterday, Saturday, August 2, 2025.
Members of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) who found the body noticed a bullet wound on his head.
The police said the bullet was shot at close range, suggesting intentional execution.
Ekpeboh Richard, who hailed from Amassoma in Southern Ijaw, was the Vice Chairman of the Real Estate Consultants Association of Bayelsa State.
The father of two left his home on July 24, 2025, but failed to return. His anxious wife managed to hold on till around 2 a.m., when he did not show up or respond to his calls, before raising the alarm.
Family members later said some curious WhatsApp messages emanated from the deceased’s phone, trying to assure them that he was fine.
The message asked the wife not to worry about him as he was doing well and would be home soon.
Another message was sent, saying some money would be sent through a PoS operator. This was a red flag to the wife, who never received a transfer from her husband through a PoS operator.
His mode of sending money to his wife had always been by direct transfers.
Not long after the text was sent, the sum of N15,300 was reportedly sent to the wife.
There was reportedly another message purportedly from the deceased talking about outstanding debts of N9 m and N3 m he allegedly owed his colleagues in the real estate sector.
It later emerged that the messages were being sent by Richard’s abductors in a bid to misdirect them into thinking that all was well instead of alerting the police.
Eyewitnesses later said they saw a man who turned out to be Richard being dragged into the bush by two young men in a blue Honda car.
According to them, two gunshots were fired shortly afterwards. The two abductors reportedly stole Richard’s Toyota Matrix and escaped with it.
Police investigators established signs of a struggle at the spot the eyewitness pointed to. They also recovered a shoe leg believed to belong to Richard in the vicinity.
According to Vanguard Newspapers, the case has now been taken over by the Homicide Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID)
Sources said the investigators are considering the two motives of a business dispute or a possible money laundering deal.
