Published 12th Apr, 2021

By FIJ

The burial of the captain and 11 soldiers killed by bandits in the Konshisha Local Government Area (LGA) of Benue State on April 5 is currently ongoing, FIJ can report.

A military ssource confirmed to FIJ that the ceremony is currently happening at the military cemetery close to Wurukwum roundabout in Makurdi, capital of Benue State.

As earlier reported by FIJ the soldiers were taken out by the bandits in batches of five and seven, with their bodies set ablaze and dumped in a forest near Gbinde Village.

The 11 soldiers killed with the captain are one warrant officer, two sergeants, three corporals, one lance corporal and four privates.

An incident report signed by Major P. A. Onifade and seen by FIJ revealed that the bandits were well-armed and encircled the officer and the troops with him.

“After a long wait for the troops without any sign of their arrival, troops from Oju went out with a patrol of soldiers led by a warrant officer. The reinforcement troops came to Konshisha and also failed to return,” it said.

Calls made to their mobile phones went unanswered, prompting the dispatch of a “robust search and rescue joint operation of own troops and OPWS”.

The bodies of the 11 were eventually found burnt and dumped in a forest near a village called Gbinde, in Konshiha LGA. The two Hilux vans conveying the troops were also found burnt.

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