Burial of 13 Benue attack victims postponed as mortuary attendant disappears

The burial of 13 people killed in a recent attack by suspected armed herdsmen in Turan community, Jato-Aka, located in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, has been postponed.

The funeral, which was earlier fixed for Thursday, March 12, 2026, had been arranged by families of the victims alongside concerned members of the Turan community.

Residents had already begun gathering in Mbachom community in preparation for the ceremony, waiting for the bodies of the victims to be brought from the mortuary.

However, the planned burial could not go ahead after relatives failed to collect the corpses from the mortuary.

A local source and family member of one of the victims, who gave his name as Bemgba Numve, said the burial had to be called off because the bodies were not released.

According to him, “My brother was killed 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.

Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, for comments were unsuccessful as of the time this report was filed.