Armed men suspected to be local militias on Saturday night killed three mourners and abducted two others as they returned from a burial in Sati Ikov Council Ward, Ushongo Local Government Area, Benue State.

The attackers also reportedly kidnapped two of the mourners.

A local resident, who spoke to newsmen in a telephone interview on Sunday, said the incident occurred on Saturday night as the victims were on their way back from the burial.

The lawmaker representing Ushongo State Constituency in the Benue State House of Assembly, Simon Gabo, confirmed the incident on Sunday and decried the activities of local militias in the area.

He said the community had witnessed repeated attacks by suspected militias in the past two weeks, resulting in several deaths.

Gabo identified those killed on Saturday night as Bem Msughter from Mbakyombo, Daav-Ikov; Aondo Chia from Mbamegh, Daav-Ikov; and Sunday Terwase of Mbakyor, Daav-Ikov.

He also disclosed that two mourners, Aondongu Amos-Mbanyion, a POS operator at Sati-Ikov, and Mrs Arinze, an Igbo patent medicine trader at Sati-Ikov, were abducted.

Gabo, who is also the Deputy Majority Chief Whip of the State House of Assembly, claimed that three persons had been killed in similar attacks in the community two weeks earlier.

The lawmaker said, “I received a call from my people today (Sunday) at about 4am that yesterday (Saturday) night, they went for a burial and on their way back they ran into the armed men.

“The armed men shot and killed three of them and collected their bags. They also robbed some residents there and kidnapped two persons. The victims were all young men.

Aside from that, previously we have had one or two of such incidents every other week.

Gabo alleged that the armed men always cross the River from the Katsina-Ala Local Government side to Ushongo to launch an attack.

“So they cross from there to our side, attack and return back to their side. It is a mountainous area with large forests,” the deputy majority chief whip narrated.

He added that he had reported the incident to the police, noting that the Divisional Police Officer had led security personnel to the community on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, could not be reached for comments as her phone rang out at the time of filing this report. (Nigerian Tribune)