First I want to say up front....I like Locke's character quite a bit. But, I think it was in Claires dream he was seen as having one white eye and one black. (please correct me if I am wrong)
I have come to think that Locke is easily manipulated, for good or for bad. He has had a special connection to the island. He feels that it speaks to him and utilizes him in ways it does not with the other cast aways. That makes him a perfect tool by manipulation.

Now, that we have seen Locke single handedly destroy 2 Hatches, it seems to me that he is being used quite effectively. Ben told Locke that the numbers were meaningless and that he had never entered them when locke was trapped in the hatch. Why would he say that? It obviously was a lie. He also questioned Locke about why he let Jack order him around. Again a very well planned manipulation. Once the seed was planted, Locke could not allow the numbers to continue to be pushed by himself or anyone else. Who was the one that stood between Locke and the computer?.....Eko. Eko was the one that stared the smoke monster down without fear, he was the one that took up the faith that pushing the numbers would save the world. He may have been the one person that could have stopped Locke from destroying the hatches.

Lockes vision in the smoke hut had Boone telling him to save Eko, because he had messed up and put him in danger. So, he drags him away from a polar bear and then leaves him laying out alone and severely injured in the jungle while he explored yet another hatch. Eko did not have the strength physically or mentally to defend himself against anything that would have come upon him. The opportunity to take Eko out was seized immediately. Then, it was Eko's scripture stick that was used to tell Locke where the next hatch was, and it was destoyed within hours of his finding it.

It seems to me that Eko was taken out by the powers that be, because he would have interfered with Lockes hatch destroying activities. Of course, I could just be paranoid.