Second funeral convoy attacked within one week as highway insecurity takes a more chilling turn
A family’s final act of love for their late mother ended in terror in the early hours of Saturday after gunmen reportedly intercepted their vehicle and abducted relatives escorting her remains from Abuja to Benue State for burial.
The attack, which occurred along the Ogobia–Otukpo Road in Ohimini Local Government Area of Benue State, is the second reported assault within one week on mourners transporting the body of a loved one for burial, raising fresh concerns that even funeral journeys—long regarded across Nigeria as deserving of dignity and safe passage—are no longer beyond the reach of violent criminal gangs.
The victims, identified as three siblings, were travelling with the remains of their mother to Iklenyi Community in Okpokwu Local Government Area when armed men reportedly ambushed their vehicle between Omutele and Ankpechi in Oglewu District at about 4 a.m. on Saturday.
Residents said the sound of sustained gunfire shattered the pre-dawn calm, initially triggering fears that nearby communities had come under attack.
A resident of Omutele, who identified himself simply as Elijah, said villagers awoke believing armed herders had invaded the area.
“We heard sporadic gunshots between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. and thought Fulani herdsmen were attacking our community,” he said. “It was only after daybreak that we learnt the victims were family members bringing the corpse of their mother from Abuja to Iklenyi for burial.”
A video circulating on social media, which Law & Society Magazine could not independently verify, claimed the family’s vehicle developed a mechanical fault along the highway, leaving the mourners stranded before the gunmen struck.
As of Saturday evening, it remained unclear whether the deceased’s body remained at the scene, had been recovered by relatives or was taken during the attack.
The Chairman of Ohimini Local Government Area, Gabriel Adole, confirmed that an incident had occurred but said he was on his way to the scene to establish the circumstances surrounding the attack.
“Yes, I am going to the scene of the incident now to ascertain what really happened,” he said.
The spokesperson for the Benue State Police Command, DSP Udeme Edet, said the Command had yet to receive an official report on the incident. She promised to contact the Divisional Police Officer in the area for details but had not responded further as of the time this report was filed.
A Disturbing Pattern
Saturday’s abduction came barely a week after gunmen ambushed another funeral convoy along the Ochadamu–Ejule Road in neighbouring Kogi State while relatives were transporting the remains of a late Deputy Corps Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Augustine Ikwue, for burial.
In that attack, nine mourners were abducted and the deceased’s body was briefly seized before the gunmen abandoned it, allowing relatives to recover the remains and proceed with the burial.
The two incidents, occurring within days of each other, have heightened anxiety over the worsening security situation on highways linking Benue and neighbouring states. They also illustrate the increasingly indiscriminate nature of criminal violence, in which families performing one of society’s oldest and most sacred obligations are no longer spared.
Across Nigeria, funeral journeys have traditionally been regarded as solemn occasions that command respect across communities. Security experts say attacks on such processions reflect not only the growing audacity of criminal gangs but also the vulnerability of travellers on major inter-state roads, many of which have become recurring hotspots for kidnappings and violent crime.
Calls for Decisive Action
The latest incident came as former Labour Party presidential aspirant Peter Agada urged President Bola Tinubu to move beyond expressions of sympathy and adopt more decisive measures to halt the wave of killings and kidnappings across the country following the recent killing of about 16 persons in Akpachi and Otukpo-Nobi communities in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State.
Speaking in Abuja on Saturday, Agada said the Federal Government must focus on dismantling criminal networks responsible for persistent attacks rather than limiting its response to condolence visits after tragedies.
“President Bola Tinubu’s administration must stop being a government of empty ceremonial promises of security and rise to restore Nigeria from being a republic of bloodshed to one of law, order, peace, opportunity and prosperity,” he said.
He called for greater deployment of intelligence-driven policing, surveillance technology and coordinated security operations against kidnappers, bandits, terrorists and other violent criminal groups.
