The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his 26-year-old brother, Smart Okwuokenye, for allegedly kidnapping and killing two men in Owa-Alidima, Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State.
Police spokesman, SP Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the bodies of the victims had been recovered and taken to a mortuary for autopsy.
According to the statement, one of the victims, 22-year-old Friday Liberty, had gone to visit the herbalist on September 30, 2025, but never returned home.
“It was a case of the hunter becoming the hunted when on the 30th of September 2025, Mr. Friday Liberty, aged 22 years, visited his herbalist, whom he had known for some time, but this time he never returned,” Edafe said.
Liberty’s family later grew worried about his disappearance after his girlfriend revealed that he had gone to see a herbalist.
“The girlfriend of the deceased informed the family that she heard a conversation about Friday Liberty and a certain herbalist and advised them to reach out to him,” Edafe explained.
When the family contacted the herbalist, he denied seeing Liberty but promised to perform spiritual rites to help bring him back alive.
“Having spent money on the herbalist and with no results, they reported the case to the Agbor Area Command through a petition on October 14, 2025,” the statement added.
Detectives then launched an intelligence-led operation, identifying the herbalist as the last person to have seen Liberty. After days of surveillance, police arrested Amechi on October 23, 2025, while he was hiding inside a refrigerator in his shrine at Owa-Alidima.
Upon interrogation, the herbalist allegedly confessed that he and his brother had kidnapped Liberty and a motorcycle rider, identified as Isioma Ugbeje.
“Upon arrest of the herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, aged 20 years, he confessed that both he and his brother, Smart Okwuokenye, aged 26 years, kidnapped the victim, Liberty Friday, and the Okada rider who carried him to the shrine,” the police statement said.
Edafe added that Amechi described Liberty as a regular client who often came to him for spiritual help to influence his own customers.
“The herbalist said his elder brother approached him, saying he needed money and suggested they lure one of his clients for ransom. The unfortunate person they picked was Liberty Friday,” Edafe revealed.
The suspects reportedly demanded N10 million from the families of their victims. When the ransom plan failed, they allegedly murdered both men and dumped their bodies inside a soakaway pit beside the shrine.
“Suspects are in custody, and the remains of the victims have been evacuated and deposited at the mortuary for autopsy,” Edafe confirmed.
The Delta State Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Abaniwonda, assured the public that the matter would be thoroughly investigated and justice served.
