THE Traditional Ruler of Obe autonomous community in Nkanu West local government area of Enugu State, Igwe Uche Nwachime, has been assassinated by unknown assailants who dumped his remains at a refuse site on the Enugu-Aba-Port Harcourt expressway.

The incident occurred last weekend just as another report emerged yesterday of the abduction of the younger brother of Prof. Dora Akunyili, Director-General of National Agency for Foods, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Mr. Paul Edemobi.

He was reportedly abducted in Enugu Monday night by the kidnappers who are demanding N30m ransom from his family as condition for his release. Edemobi is the proprietor of Paul and Grace Foundation, a non-profit organization located at 10B Savage Crescent, GRA Enugu, which renders free medical services to children and aged people.

It was gathered that Edomobi was abducted by the gun-wielding hoodlums at the Independence Layout area of the coal city and taken to an undisclosed location from where they contacted his relatives demanding the ransom.

Sources hinted that the traditional ruler of Obe, who was the proprietor of Mac Royal Hotel, Presidential Road, Enugu, was abducted from the hotel on Saturday night by some gunmen who allegedly operated with AK47 rifles and that the incident took place in the presence of some persons who had gone to transact a business with him.

It was disclosed that the family members of the king could neither trace him nor his assailants until Monday when his corpse was found at the refuse dump.

It was not clear yesterday whether the attackers were kidnappers who wanted a ransom but could not get and acted dastardly in frustration or they were purely on a mission to assassinate the king.