The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his 26-year-old stepbrother, Smart Okwuokenye, for the alleged kidnapping and murder of two men — a client, Friday Liberty, and a commercial motorcyclist, Isioma Ugbeje — in Owa-Alidima, Ika North East Local Government Area of the state.

According to a statement issued on Sunday, October 26, 2025, by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, the case began on September 30 when 22-year-old Liberty visited the herbalist and never returned home.

After days of fruitless search, the victim’s girlfriend reportedly informed the family that she overheard a conversation linking Liberty’s disappearance to the herbalist. The family contacted the suspect, who denied seeing Liberty but offered to perform spiritual rites to “bring him back.”

When the rituals failed and suspicions deepened, the family petitioned the Agbor Area Command on October 14. Detectives launched an intelligence-driven investigation and discovered that the herbalist was the last person in contact with the missing man.

Following days of surveillance, police operatives stormed the shrine on October 23, arresting Amechi Okwuokenye, who was found hiding inside a refrigerator.

During interrogation, the herbalist confessed that he and his stepbrother had kidnapped Liberty and the motorcycle rider, demanding a ransom of ₦10 million. When the ransom failed, they murdered both men and dumped their bodies in a soakaway pit behind the shrine.

Edafe added that the remains of the victims have been recovered and deposited at the mortuary for autopsy.

The Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, assured that the suspects will be prosecuted and justice served, reaffirming the command’s commitment to protecting lives and property in the state.