By Nike Ozioma
The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his stepbrother, Smart Okwuokenye, 26, for allegedly abducting and killing two men in Owa-Alidima, Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, who confirmed that the victims, Friday Liberty, 22, and Isioma Ugbeje, a commercial motorcyclist, were reported missing after Liberty visited the herbalist on 30 September 2025 and never returned.
According to the statement, Liberty’s family began searching for him after receiving information from his girlfriend, who said she overheard discussions linking him to the herbalist.
Although the herbalist denied seeing Liberty, he offered to perform spiritual rituals to “bring him back,” a move that yielded no results. The family eventually petitioned the Agbor Area Command on 14 October, prompting detectives to open a full investigation.
Police investigators later traced Liberty’s last contact to the same herbalist. The statement said surveillance was mounted for several days around his shrine, leading to his arrest on 23 October 2025. He was reportedly found hiding inside a refrigerator.
During interrogation, the herbalist allegedly confessed that he and his stepbrother kidnapped both Liberty and the motorcyclist who brought him to the shrine.
He further claimed that Liberty had been a longtime customer who often sought charms to influence clients for financial gain.
The suspects allegedly demanded a 10-million-naira ransom from the family, and when the plan failed, they killed both victims and dumped their bodies in a soakaway near the shrine.
SP Edafe confirmed that the corpses have been recovered and deposited at a mortuary for autopsy, while the suspects remain in police custody.
