Unidentified gunmen have  shot dead Mr Ben Onyechere, the media adviser to former governor of Abia state, Senator Theodore Orji.

The late Onyechere was said to have been kidnapped at about 8 p.m. in Ikenegbu axis of Owerri where he had gone with his driver for shopping. Ikenegbu is a commercial district in Owerri housing top-of-the-range supermarkets and it is usually busy both day and night.

The source said “the five gunmen  trailed Onyechere to a popular super market in Ikenegbu and forced his driver out of his car before they sped off with him to an unknown destination. Attempts were made that night to locate the kidnappers and their captive to no avail. The driver was also said to have been shot in his leg by the gunmen when he tried to resist them.

However, the following day the body of Onyechere was found a few streets away from Maris Junction, Ikenegbu Owerri, after he was shot several times.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Imo Command, DSP Andrew Enwerem, said that he was informed of the incident, but could not confirm the identity of the victim. Onyechere had also served as media aide to former vice-president Alex Ekwueme.

He is currently serving the current Governor of Abia who retained him as one of his media aides. The motive of the abductors was not made clear but the manner he was killed almost immediately after he was whisked away suggests a case of assassination.