A 20-year-old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his 26-year-old brother, Smart Okwuokenye, have been arrested by the operatives of the Delta State Police Command for allegedly kidnapping and killing two men in Owa-Alidima, Ika North East Local Government Area of the state.
The Delta State Police Command Public Relations Officer SP Bright Edafe, who confirmed the arrest of the suspects through a statement issued on Sunday, disclosed the the victims’ bodies had been recovered and deposited in the mortuary for autopsy.
Edafe said in the statement that the incident began on September 30, 2025, when one of the victims, 22-year-old Friday Liberty, visited the herbalist 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 old, visited his herbalist, whom he had known for some time now, but this time, he never returned,” Edafe said.
The state police image-maker added in the statement that Liberty’s family, who became worried about his disappearance, later received information from his girlfriend suggesting that he had gone to see a certain herbalist.
“The girlfriend of the deceased then informed the family that she heard a conversation about the said Friday Liberty and a certain herbalist, and advised that they should reach out to the said herbalist.
“The family contacted the herbalist, who denied seeing him but promised to do some spiritual incantations so their brother could return alive.
“Having spent money on the herbalist, and the result was not forthcoming, they then reported the matter at the Agbor Area Command via a petition on 14th October 2025,” Edafe stated.
Following the petition, the state police publicist said the detectives launched an intelligence-led investigation and identified the herbalist as the last person to have had contact with the missing victim.
“Surveillance was laid around his shrine at Owa-Alidima in Ika North East LGA, for days, until he was arrested on 23rd October 2025, in his shrine while hiding inside a refrigerator,” the statement continued.
Upon his arrest, the herbalist allegedly confessed that he and his brother kidnapped both 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 motorcycle rider identified as Isioma Ugbeje, who carried him to the shrine.
“They further stated that Friday Liberty has been his long-time customer who frequently visits him to hypnotise clients so they could give him money easily (in his words, ‘to tie clients’).
“The herbalist said his elder brother approached him that he needed money and advised him to lure any of his clients so they could kidnap him and ask for ransom, and the unlucky person they could lure was Liberty Friday,” the statement revealed.
According to the command spokesperson, the suspects later demanded a ransom of ₦10 million from their victims’ families.
“They kidnapped him and the Okada rider and demanded a ransom of N10m.
“When they noticed that the plan was not working, they murdered him and the motorcycle rider and dumped their bodies in a soakaway pit by the shrine,” the statement read, just as it also confirmed that the suspects were now in custody and that investigations were ongoing.
“Suspects are in custody, and the remains of the victims have been evacuated and deposited at the mortuary for autopsy,” Edafe said.
The state police image-maker quoted the state Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, Olufemi Abaniwonda, to have assured that justice would be served in the case.
