The Delta State Police Command has arrested two brothers, Amechi and Smart Okwuokenye, for the gruesome murder of a 22-year-old man, Friday Liberty, and a commercial motorcyclist, after a failed kidnap-for-ransom plot in Ika North East Local Government Area of the state.
According to a statement by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, the incident, which began as a missing person’s case, turned into a shocking case of betrayal and ritual killing.
He said the deceased, Friday Liberty, had visited the herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, on September 30, 2025, but never returned home. When Liberty’s family could not find him, they were later informed by his girlfriend that he had mentioned visiting a herbalist before his disappearance.“The family reached out to the herbalist, who denied seeing him but promised to perform spiritual incantations to help bring him back,” Edafe stated.
“After spending money with no result, the family reported the matter to the Agbor Area Command on October 14, 2025.”Acting on intelligence, detectives traced Liberty’s last contact to the same herbalist who had denied knowledge of his whereabouts.
Surveillance was mounted around his shrine at Owa-Alidima, where he was eventually arrested on October 23, 2025, while hiding inside a refrigerator.During interrogation, the 20-year-old suspect confessed that he and his brother, 26-year-old Smart Okwuokenye, had kidnapped Friday Liberty and a motorcycle rider identified as Isioma Ugbeje.
The herbalist revealed that Liberty had been his long-time client who often sought charms to hypnotize people for financial gain.“He confessed that his elder brother persuaded him to lure one of his clients for kidnapping to raise money, and unfortunately, the victim turned out to be Liberty,” Edafe said.
The suspects allegedly demanded a ₦10 million ransom from Liberty’s family, but when their plan failed, they murdered both victims and dumped their bodies in a soakaway pit near the shrine. The corpses have since been exhumed and deposited at the mortuary for autopsy.
The Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, commended the detectives for their swift action and assured that justice will be served.“The Command will ensure that those responsible face the full wrath of the law,” Edafe added.
