Police Arrest Herbalist and Step-Brother in Delta Over Abduction of ‘Yahoo Boy’ and Okada Rider

Police detectives operating out of the Agbor Area Command in Delta State have successfully apprehended a 20-year-old herbalist, Amechi Okwuokenye, and his 26-year-old elder step-brother, Smart Okwuokenye, in connection with the alleged abduction and gruesome murder of a suspected internet fraudster, Friday Liberty, aged 22, and a motorcycle rider. The herbalist was arrested at his shrine located at Owa-Alidima in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State on October 23, 2025. Both suspects are currently in police custody.

The case, described by Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright Edafe, as a situation of “the hunter becoming the hunted,” began when Friday Liberty visited his herbalist on September 30, 2025, a person he had known for some time. When the 22-year-old failed to return, his family grew worried and began a frantic search. Dependable NG reports that the deceased’s girlfriend provided the crucial breakthrough, informing the family that she had overheard a conversation mentioning Friday Liberty and the herbalist. The family immediately contacted the traditional healer, who not only denied seeing the victim but bizarrely promised to perform spiritual incantations to ensure the missing brother’s safe return.

After spending money on the herbalist with no positive result, the family finally reported the matter by submitting a petition to the Agbor Area Command on October 14, 2025. This decisive action proved to be the turning point in the investigation. Detectives swiftly embarked on an intelligence-led operation, which quickly uncovered that the last person Friday Liberty had contacted was the very herbalist who was lying about his whereabouts. A discreet surveillance operation was mounted around the suspect’s shrine at Owa-Alidima for several days, culminating in the arrest of Amechi Okwuokenye on October 23, 2025, who was found hiding inside a refrigerator at his shrine.

Upon his arrest, the herbalist confessed to the shocking crime, admitting that both he and his step-brother, Smart Okwuokenye, had conspired to kidnap the victim, Liberty Friday, and the unsuspecting motorcycle rider, Isioma Ugbeje, who transported him to the shrine. The herbalist revealed that Friday Liberty was a long-time customer who frequently visited him for rituals intended “to tie clients” or hypnotise people to easily hand over money. He further confessed that his elder brother had approached him in need of money and advised him to lure one of his clients for a kidnapping and ransom demand. The unfortunate victims they managed to lure were Liberty Friday and the Okada rider. The suspects initially demanded a ransom of N10,000,000. However, when the plan faltered, they proceeded to murder both the client and the motorcycle rider, callously dumping their bodies in a soak-away pit located right next to the shrine. Police recovered the remains of the two victims from the soak-away pit at the suspect’s shrine and deposited them at the mortuary for a full autopsy. Delta State Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, assured the public that the command is committed to ensuring that justice is served in this horrific case.