The Delta State Police Command has arrested a herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his elder brother, Smart Okwuokenye, for the murder of a client, Liberty Friday, and a motorcycle rider, Isioma Ugbeje, who had taken the client to the shrine.
Amechi, 20, was arrested at his shrine in Owa-Alidima, in the Ika North East Local Government Area of the state, where he was found hiding inside a refrigerator on October 23, 2025.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
“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, but this time, he never returned. The family, who initially didn’t know what happened to their brother, started looking for him.
“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. And this decision proved to be the turning point in the case as the Area Command detectives embarked on an intelligence-led investigation,” the statement reads in part.
SP Edafe explained that during the investigation, detectives discovered that the last person Friday had contacted before his disappearance was the same herbalist who had earlier denied knowledge of his whereabouts.
“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. 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,” he said.
The suspects revealed that Friday had been a long-time customer who often visited the shrine to obtain charms to hypnotise clients so they could easily give him money.
Amechi confessed that his brother approached him, saying he needed money and suggesting that they lure one of his clients for kidnapping and ransom — and they eventually decided to target Friday.
Consequently, they kidnapped both Friday and Ugbeje and demanded a ransom of ₦10 million. “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 spokesperson noted.
He added that the suspects are currently in custody, while the remains of the victims have been evacuated and deposited at the mortuary for autopsy.
Commenting on the arrest, the Delta Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, assured the public that the Command would ensure that justice is served.
rmebuy