Ben Ezechime, Enugu
A Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in the Enugu North District on Wednesday remanded a popular native doctor, Levi Obieze, at the Correctional Service Center in Enugu for alleged murder and kidnapping. He was remanded alongside two other suspects, Sebastian Offor and Odinamkpa Ejike, after their arraignment at the court presided over by O.S. Chukwuani.
Magistrate Chukwuani adjourned the matter till 20 August 2025, while their file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
The trio were arraigned on seven-count charges bordering on murder and kidnapping.
Obieze, the prime suspect, was arrested on May 29, 2025, by operatives of the Nigeria Immigration Service at the Gbaji checkpoint along the Badagry-Seme Road while attempting to escape from the arm of the law on a motorcycle.
His arrest followed intelligence linking him to the kidnapping of a 13-year-old girl, identified as Okoye Ukamaka, in Isiagu Community, Enugu State.
It was also alleged that decomposing bodies were discovered at his shrine in Ishiagu in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State.
When his heinous crime was discovered in May, it made headlines and dominated the media space for weeks. His eventual arrest at the borders while trying to flee the country also sent the media wave agog.
Recently, however, social media went agog again, wondering why he had not been arraigned since his arrest. It is a welcome development that he has now been arraigned to answer for his supposed crimes.
The native doctor was said to have been burying people alive to maintain the efficacy and potency of his charms, and the alarm blew with the incident of the 13-year-old girl who was kidnapped for ritual purposes.
Before the cookie crumbled, the suspect was known to be throwing money about at parties and occasions.
When the news of the incident came to light, his stupendous wealth was attributed to the atrocities he had been committing, and this prompted the government to set his property ablaze and demolish some.
Irked by the chilling and blood-curdling incident, the Enugu State Government, through the State House of Assembly, brought a motion before the House to check the activities of fake native doctors.
