Shock As Kidnapped Imo Traditional Ruler Is Found Dead, Leg Chopped Off

By Charles Igbo

The hope of the family and the Otulu Amumara autonomous Community, Ezinihitte Mbaise, Imo State, to reunite with their father and Traditional Ruler, His Royal Highness, Eze (Sir) Joe-Benz Ochulor, after he was abducted has been dashed. It has ended in tragedy.

Less than 24 hours after Eze Ochulor, the Olu 1 of Otulu, Amumara, was abducted from his Palace on Saturday, November 25, he was gruesomely murdered.

While his family and Community were waiting for  his abductors to contact them and, perhaps, ask for ransom, his mutilated body was found along the Chokoneze- Mbutu road where it was dumped. One of his legs was severed from his body.

The gunmen who invaded his Palace and whisked him away, on arrival, shot sporadically and scared away the people who could have raised an alarm immediately.

Speculation now is that the incident was not the usual kidnap for money, but a planned assassination.

At the time of filing this report, there has been no statement from the Police, the family, community, the Eze-in-Council or the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers.

Fear has gripped the Otulu Amumara autonomous Community as well as the whole of Mbaise and the murdered Eze’s colleagues as the reason for his tragic end is yet to be known.