The Taraba State Police Command has confirmed the discovery of seven travellers’ bodies amidst the dense foliage of a forest.
This revelation comes in the wake of an attack on an 18-seater bus, which was targeted in an ambush at Gamkwe village within the Donga Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday.
Loaded with passengers from Zako Biam in Benue State, the vehicle was en route to Maihula in the Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State when a group of assailants, believed to be vigilante members, launched an attack and struck the vehicle with deadly force.
Reports said the vigilante members had been mourning the death of their member when they sighted the bus, and attacked it in anger, claiming the passengers’ (Tivs) kinsmen were responsible for the death of the vigilante member.
After the attack, 15 of the passengers including women and children were declared missing by the police.
In a statement on Wednesday, the State Police Commissioner, CP David Iloyonomon, said his men found the seven dead bodies in the bush while on patrol to control rising tension between the Ichen and Tiv ethnic groups in the Donga Local Government Area of the State.
The commissioner said the seven recovered dead bodies included five women, a baby and a man.
The commissioner explained that the incident on Tuesday started when Ichen youths from Mararaba area of Donga LGA reported to the Police Area Command in the area that a Pastor and his church member were missing while on their way to the church.
According to Iloyonomon, the youth on the same day, found the decomposing bodies of the missing persons and started attacking the Tiv residents in the town.
“It took the efforts of our men to rescue some of the Tiv people to Takum for safety,” he said.
“Today, while our men were on patrol to maintain law and order and to ensure that peace returns, they found seven dead bodies including five women, a man, and a baby. The corpses have been evacuated to the police station,” he said.
