When 22-year-old Liberty Friday answered a friend’s call, he never knew it would be his last.
His brother, Chika Friday, still remembers that tragic day — September 30, 2025.
“It started with a phone call,” Chika said. “Someone claiming to be a kidnapper told my younger brother in Enugu that Liberty had been abducted.”
The kidnappers demanded ₦20 million ransom. Liberty’s faint cries came through the phone before the line went dead.
Later, the family discovered the shocking truth — strangers didn’t kidnap Liberty. His herbalist friend lured him.
The herbalist, barely 23 years old, had called Liberty that morning. “He told him to come alone,” Chika said.
Liberty asked a commercial motorcyclist to take him there. Neither of them came back.
Liberty’s girlfriend, Abigail, overheard the call. She was sick and resting beside him.
“The herbalist told Liberty to come immediately,” she said. “The phone was on speaker. I heard everything.”
When Liberty vanished, the herbalist denied knowing anything. But Chika wasn’t convinced.
“I kept pretending to believe him,” Chika said. He sent small amounts of money — ₦10,000 every two days — just to keep communication open.
“He said he needed the money to ‘check’ if my brother was still alive.”
The herbalist later demanded ₦400,000 to perform a charm that would make Liberty return home.
Desperate, Chika sent ₦120,000 as bait while working with the police.
Through these transactions, they tracked the herbalist’s phone and fintech account.
On October 24, 2025, Chika set the final trap.
“I told him I wanted to bring the money in person,” he recalled. The herbalist agreed — but asked Chika to give the cash to his mother. “I refused. Then I alerted the police waiting nearby.”
The next day, officers stormed the herbalist’s den. He was arrested without a fight.
What came next broke the family’s heart. The herbalist confessed everything.
He and his elder brother had killed Liberty and the motorcyclist on October 1, a day after the abduction.
“He said they blindfolded both victims,” Chika said quietly. “When Liberty’s blindfold fell off, his brother insisted they must die.”
They gave their victims a substance to weaken them, then attacked with sticks and cutlasses.
The herbalist’s elder brother fled to Warri. Police later arrested him after he threatened someone with acid. He confessed too.
Chika spent over ₦300,000 sending money to the herbalist and another ₦550,000 assisting the police. “Tracking them cost millions,” he said. “But no amount can bring Liberty back.”
The family of the slain motorcyclist later came for his body. Liberty was buried amid tears and disbelief.
“I still can’t believe my brother died that way,” Chika said. “They were almost the same age. They were supposed to be friends.”
Now, Chika wants justice — and a warning to others: “Be careful who you trust,” he said. “Not every friend means well.”
Sometimes, betrayal doesn’t come from strangers. It comes from those who know your voice — and call you “friend.”
