Suspected thugs abducted a mortuary attendant at NKST Hospital in Jato Aka, headquarters of Kwande Local Government Area in Benue State, and disrupted preparations for a planned mass burial of victims of a recent bandit attack, Punch Newspaper reports.
The development prevented relatives from accessing the bodies for burial.
The incident occurred on Thursday when the attendant at the hospital mortuary was reportedly taken away by the suspected thugs.
Families of victims who had gathered at the hospital to retrieve bodies for burial were unable to gain access to them because the mortuary was sealed.
The burial was scheduled for 11 victims who were killed during a bandit attack on Tyungu Jam and Mbaav communities in the Yaav and Mbadura council wards of Kwande Local Government Area on March 5. The attack left several people dead and many others injured.
Relatives and sympathisers had assembled at the mortuary ahead of the mass burial when they discovered that the attendant had been taken away and the facility locked.
This prevented families from claiming the bodies of their loved ones for burial.
The disruption drew condemnation from the All Progressives Congress in Benue State.
In a statement issued by the party’s state publicity secretary, Daniel Ihomun, the party described the incident as disgraceful and said that the attendant, identified as MT Tiga, had been abducted by sponsored thugs.
The party said the mortuary was sealed in a bid to prevent the community from carrying out the mass burial for the victims. It described the act as an assault on the people’s right to bury their dead with dignity.
The president‑general of Mdzough U Tiv Worldwide, retired Comptroller‑General of Prisons Iorbee Ihagh, described the incident as shameful.
He said people had come from far away, including outside the country, to attend the planned burial before the disruption.
When contacted, the chairman of Kwande Local Government, Neji Terhile, said those mobilising for the mass burial did not consider the volatility of the area. He noted that some of the victims had already been buried.
