On January 5, Obi Ofulue was kidnapped near his palace in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State and 15 days later, his corpse was found in Umunede. In Ubulu-Uku and other kingdoms, it is a taboo to kidnap a king, not to talk of killing him but vigilante group members found his decomposing remains near a tree in the bush at Umunede, in Ika North East Local Government Area of the state.
A lawyer, businessman and an ardent Christian who was a member of the Deeper Life Bible Ministry, the monarch was driving with a young pastor of the church, who also served as one of his aides along the notorious Obior/Igbodo Road when the abductors struck. The spot, about 40km from his country home, has been a flash-point in recent times, with many persons, including two Catholic priests kidnapped from the same location by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
One vigilante group member, said they discovered two decomposing corpses in the bush but were able to identify the monarch because of his beads and apparel. He added that the king’s corpse was found resting at the bottom of a palm tree.
“We could not identify the second body but the fellow had Hausa shoes on. This is a very challenging period for us in this kingdom and I was one of those who went in search of the king,” he added.
Oba Ofulue, who has riled his kingdom for 10 years just marked the anniversary and was duped of some money running into millions of naira and items, including royal beads by one of his houseboys from the northern part of the country. Some people believe this may have had something to do with his kidnapping.
One source close to the monarch said: “He kept N2m (£7,000) in the palace but his houseboy allegedly stole the money and ran away with the items. I learned that some days after, unknown persons suspected to be the Fulani herdsmen called the king, claiming that they saw his beads and money and that he should come to collect them.
"They told him to drive to the notorious road and the king not knowing that it was a set-up, set out to meet with them. His fleeing houseboy linked up with the herdsmen, who talked him into arranging the monarch for ransom."
It is not yet clear whether the pastor that went with him and his driver knew that anybody invited the king or that he was on a mission to meet the kidnappers, who pretended to have found his beads. However, upon reaching the spot, the herdsmen, who laid ambush, came out shooting sporadically, abducting the monarch and leading him into the bush.
Miraculously, both the king and the pastor, managed to break out from the kidnappers’ grip a day after their abduction but while the pastor was able to make it to Ubulu-Uku, the king could not. One villager said, the pastor told the story of how he and the monarch broke loose from their abductors but while he, being younger was able to run with more energy, the monarch, due to his age, could not make it because of exhaustion.
The king reportedly complained that he was tired and needed to rest but the pastor ran to the community to inform the people. He gave a graphic description of the area in the bush where they took them to but before any of the search parties could get there, the Fulani herdsmen found the king and took him away.
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