Benue: Thugs abduct mortuary attendant, stop mass burial

Alia

A mortuary attendant at NKST Hospital located at Jato Aka, headquarters of Kwande Local Government of Benue State, MT Tiga, was on Thursday abducted by thugs who wanted to prevent a planned mass burial for the victims of bandit attack on Tyungu Jam and Mbaav communities.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that the abduction prevented families of the victims from access to the corpses which had been deposited at the mortuary as there was no official to attend to them.

Bandits had invaded Tyungu Jam and Mbaav in Yaav and Mbadura Council wards of Kwande LG on March 5, killing several people and injuring many others.

The State Governor, Hyacinth Alia, described the killings as “senseless and barbaric” in a statement issued by his media aide, Solomon Iorpev, and called on security operatives to apprehend the attackers.

Saturday PUNCH gathered that 11 victims were scheduled for mass burial on Thursday, an event that had drawn people and priests from within and outside the state.

However, the process was disrupted when some thugs allegedly invaded the hospital, abducted the mortuary attendant, and sealed the mortuary, denying families access to the bodies.

Condemning the disruption, the All Progressives Congress in Benue described the act as disgraceful and alleged it was sponsored. Punch