The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his 26-year-old stepbrother, Smart Okwuokenye, for the kidnap and murder of two victims, including one of the herbalist’s clients, Friday Liberty.
According to the Command’s spokesperson, SP Bright Edafe (ANIPR, FCIA, FIPMD), the arrest followed a petition filed by the family of the deceased at the Agbor Area Command after Liberty went missing on September 30, 2025.
Investigations revealed that Liberty, aged 22, had visited the herbalist at his shrine in Owa-Alidima, Ika North East Local Government Area, but never returned. After fruitless efforts to locate him, the family sought help from the herbalist, who initially denied any knowledge of his whereabouts but offered to perform spiritual rites to bring him back.
When those efforts failed, the family petitioned the police on October 14, prompting detectives to launch an intelligence-led investigation. The breakthrough came when surveillance teams surrounded the herbalist’s shrine, leading to his arrest on October 23, 2025. The suspect was found hiding inside a refrigerator.
During interrogation, Amechi Okwuokenye confessed that he and his brother kidnapped Liberty and the commercial motorcycle rider who took him to the shrine, identified as Isioma Ugbeje. The suspects admitted that they had demanded a ₦10 million ransom from Liberty’s family but later killed both victims when the plan failed. Their bodies were discovered dumped inside a soakaway pit near the shrine.
SP Edafe confirmed that the remains of the two victims have been recovered and deposited in the mortuary for autopsy, while the suspects remain in custody for further investigation.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, commended the detectives for their swift and thorough investigation, assuring the public that justice will be served and warning criminal elements that Delta State will remain unsafe for crime.