A 20-year-old native doctor, Amechi Okwuokenye and his 26-year old elder brother, Smart Okwuokenye, have been arrested by operatives of the Delta State Police Command for allegedly killing one of his clients, Liberty Friday, and a motorcycle rider, Isioma Ugbeje and hiding their corpse inside a septic tank.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened at his shrine in Owa-Alidima, Ika North-East Local Government Area of the state.
The Police operatives, who had mounted surveillance for days, recovered the decomposing bodies of the victims in a septic tank beside the shrine.
This was confirmed by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, SP Bright Edafe. He stated that the victim, Friday, aged 22, had visited the native doctor for a routine consultation, but never returned home after the elder brother of the native doctor needed money. He was kidnapped for N10m ransom but when their plans failed, they decided to kill him and dump his corpse in the septic tank.
The family members of the deceased became apprehensive after several days of frantic search for him that yielded no result until the girlfriend of the deceased (name withheld) reportedly recalled overhearing a conversation linking her late lover to the herbalist, upon which the family contacted him.
However, Amechi denied knowledge of the victim’s whereabouts and offered to perform “spiritual incantations” to bring him back, collecting money in the process.
Dissatisfied, the family petitioned the Agbor Area Police Command on 14th October, 2025, following which an intelligence-led investigation reportedly revealed that the herbalist was the last person seen with the missing man.
SP Edafe explained that surveillance was mounted around the suspect’s shrine for days until he was arrested on 23rd October, 2025, while hiding inside a refrigerator.
He stated: “Upon the arrest of the herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, he confessed that he and his brother, Smart Okwuokenye, aged 26, kidnapped the victim, Liberty Friday, and the motorcycle rider, identified as Isioma Ugbeje, who had conveyed him to the shrine”.
“He further stated that Friday Liberty had been his long-time client, who frequently visited him to hypnotise others so they could give him money easily (in his words, ‘to tie clients’).
“The herbalist said his elder brother approached him, saying he needed money, and advised him to lure any of his clients so they could kidnap him and demand ransom.”
“The unlucky person they decided to lure was Liberty Friday. They kidnapped him and the okada rider and demanded a ransom of N10,000,000. When they realised the plan was not working, they murdered both men and dumped their bodies in a septic pit beside the shrine.”
“Suspects are in custody, and the remains of the victims have been evacuated and deposited at the mortuary for autopsy.”
SP Edafe stated that the suspects will be charged before the Court for the alleged murder, which attracts several years of imprisonment or life imprisonment.