The planned burial of 13 victims killed in a recent attack by suspected armed herdsmen in the Turan community, Jato-Aka, in the Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State, has been postponed following the disappearance of a mortician at the facility where the corpses were kept.
Families of the deceased and members of the Concerned Sons and Daughters of Turan Community had earlier scheduled Thursday, March 12, 2026, for a mass burial.
Preparations were already underway in the Mbachom community, where sympathisers and residents had gathered in anticipation of the funeral. However, the ceremony was halted after relatives were unable to retrieve the bodies from the mortuary.
A relative of one of the victims, Bemgba Numve, who spoke with journalists in the community, said the development left grieving families confused and frustrated.
“My brother was killed in the attack and we planned to bury all 13 of them today. People gathered from different places to witness the burial, but we could not retrieve the bodies from the mortuary,” he said.
“We got to the mortuary and discovered that the mortician was not there. We learnt that he had been taken away and there was nobody to release the bodies,” he added.
He, however, insisted that the community would still proceed with the burial despite the setback.
“We have the right to bury our brothers and sisters. Whoever took the mortician away will not determine how we bury them. We will fix another date,” he said.
Efforts to reach the spokesperson of the Benue State Police Command, DSP Udeme Edet, for confirmation were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.