Benue: Burial Of 13 Herdsmen Attack Victims Postponed As Mortuary Attendant Goes Missing

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The planned burial of 13 residents k!lled in a recent attack by suspected armed herdsmen in the Turan community of Jato-Aka, Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, has been postponed.

The burial ceremony, originally scheduled for Thursday, March 12, 2026, was organized by grieving families and the concerned sons and daughters of the Turan community.

Preparations had already begun in Mbachom community as residents gathered, awaiting the arrival of the victims’ bodies from the mortuary.

However, the ceremony could not proceed after families were unable to retrieve the corpses from the mortuary.

A local source and relative of one of the deceased, who identified himself as Bemgba Numve, explained that the burial had to be cancelled because the bodies were not released.

According to him, “My brother was k!lled in the attack and we planned to bury all 13 of them today.

“Everybody is here for the burial and people also came from outside to witness the burial but we could not retrieve the bodies of our loved ones from the mortuary.

“We got to the mortuary and discovered that the mortician was not there. We learnt that he was taken away and there was nobody to release the corpses.

“It is unfortunate that some people do not want us to carry out the burial but they are our brothers and sisters and we have the right to bury them on our own terms.

“Whoever took the mortician away will not determine how we will bury our brothers and sisters, and we will still fix another date to do it,” he added.

Attempts to get a response from the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.