Police arrest herbalist, recover 2 bodies at Delta shrine

Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have arrested an herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye (20), and his step-brother, Smart Okwuokenye (26), over the alleged abduction and murder of two persons in the state. The suspects are alleged to have abducted and killed one Friday Liberty and the Okada rider, Isioma Ugbeje, who had conveyed him to […]

Operatives of the Delta State Police Command have arrested an herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye (20), and his step-brother, Smart Okwuokenye (26), over the alleged abduction and murder of two persons in the state.

The suspects are alleged to have abducted and killed one Friday Liberty and the Okada rider, Isioma Ugbeje, who had conveyed him to the shrine.

The State Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Abaniwonde, said that on September 20, 2025, Liberty visited the herbalist, whom he had known for some time, but never returned.

He said Liberty’s family, after an endless search, contacted the deceased’s girlfriend. She informed them that she had overheard a conversation between Liberty and a certain herbalist and advised them to reach out to him.

“The family contacted the herbalist, who denied seeing him but promised to perform some spiritual incantations so that their brother could return alive,” the CP stated.

He said the family, having spent money on the herbalist without any result, petitioned the police on October 14, 2025.

He explained that during investigations, the police discovered that the herbalist was the last person the deceased contacted. They then mounted surveillance around his shrine at Owa-Alidima in Ika North East Local Government Area until he was arrested on October 22, 2025, while hiding inside a refrigerator in his shrine.

Abaniwonde said the suspect confessed that he and his brother kidnapped Friday and the motorcycle rider who brought him to the shrine.

“The herbalist also confessed that Friday had been a long-time customer who frequently visited him to hypnotize clients so they would give him money easily,” he said.

He added that the herbalist claimed his step-brother approached him, saying he needed money, and advised him to lure any of his clients so they could kidnap him and ask for ransom. The unlucky person they decided to lure was Friday Liberty.

He stated that the suspects kidnapped Liberty and the Okada rider and demanded a ransom of N10 million. When the ransom wasn’t paid, they murdered them and dumped their corpses in a soakaway pit by the shrine.

The CP concluded that the suspects are in custody while the remains of the victims have been deposited at the mortuary for autopsy.