Delta Herbalist, Brother Held Over Killing Of Two Victims

The Delta State Police Command has arrested a 20-year-old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his stepbrother, Smart Okwuokenye, 26, for allegedly kidnapping and murdering two persons in Owa-Alidima, Ika North-East Local Government Area of the state.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Asaba, said the bodies of the victims were recovered in a soakaway pit near the suspects’ shrine.

According to the police, the case began on September 30, 2025, when one of the victims, Mr. Friday Liberty, 22, visited the herbalist but never returned home. His family, after unsuccessful efforts to trace him, petitioned the Agbor Area Command on October 14, 2025.

Edafe said, “Following intelligence-led investigations, detectives discovered that the last person Liberty contacted was the same herbalist who denied knowing his whereabouts. Surveillance was mounted around the shrine at Owa-Alidima, leading to the arrest of the suspect on October 23, 2025. He was found hiding inside a refrigerator.”

During interrogation, the herbalist reportedly confessed to luring Liberty to the shrine with the help of his elder brother. The duo allegedly kidnapped Liberty and the motorcycle rider, identified as Isioma Ugbeje, who had conveyed him to the shrine.

“They demanded a ransom of ₦10 million, but when the plan failed, they murdered both men and dumped their remains in a soakaway pit,” Edafe stated.

Preliminary investigation revealed that Liberty was a long-time client of the herbalist, who had been assisting him in performing fetish rituals purported to make his business clients more submissive.

The police spokesperson added that the corpses had been evacuated and deposited at a mortuary for autopsy, while the suspects remain in custody for further investigation.

Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, has assured that justice will be served and reiterated the Command’s resolve to stamp out all forms of ritual-related crimes in the state.