By THE Delta State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his 26-year-old stepbrother, Smart Okwuokenye, for the gruesome murder of two victims, including a regular client, after a botched kidnap-for-ransom plot at Owa-Alidima in Ika North East Local Government Area.
In a statement issued on Sunday, 26th October 2025, the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, said the suspects were apprehended following a painstaking investigation by detectives from the Agbor Area Command.
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The case began on 30th September 2025, when Mr Friday Liberty, aged 22, visited his herbalist and never returned. His family’s efforts to locate him proved unsuccessful until a petition was lodged at the Agbor Area Command on 14th October 2025.
Arrested ritualists
Edafe revealed that investigators discovered the last person Liberty contacted was the same herbalist, who had earlier denied any knowledge of his whereabouts. Acting on credible intelligence, officers kept the shrine under surveillance and eventually arrested the herbalist on 23rd October 2025 while he was hiding inside a refrigerator.
During interrogation, Okwuokenye confessed that he and his stepbrother kidnapped Liberty and a commercial motorcyclist, Isioma Ugbeje, who had conveyed the victim to his shrine. The suspects demanded ₦10 million in ransom but later killed both men when their plan failed.
“The herbalist confessed that Liberty had been a long-time client who often came to him for charms to ‘tie’ people into giving him money easily,” the police statement read. “He also admitted that his brother persuaded him to lure one of his clients for ransom.”
The victims’ remains were later recovered from a soakaway pit near the shrine and have been deposited in the mortuary for autopsy.
Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, commended the detectives for their swift action and assured residents that the Command would ensure justice is served.
“The Delta Police Command remains resolute in its duty to protect lives and property. No crime will go unpunished,” he said.
Both suspects are currently in custody as investigations continue.
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