Four days after seven passengers in an 18-seater bus were killed to retaliate for the abduction of a pastor, his wife, and their 13-month baby, their decomposing bodies have been found.
The bodies were found on Saturday in the bush in Maraba Baisa in the Donga local government area of Taraba State, while their baby is yet to be seen.
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Until his sudden disappearance, Pastor Kumator Jacob Aba was with the African Church.
Aba was declared missing last Wednesday after he left his church in Bali, the headquarters of the Bali local government area of Taraba State, to attend a church congress in Donga on a motorcycle with his wife and baby.
While the pastor could not reach his destination, members of the African Church followed reports that some travellers from Tiv Stock were killed on the Maraba-Baisa Bali Road.
The head of Tiv traditional rulers in the state and Ter Bali, Chief David Gbaa, told a correspondent that the body of the pastor was found in the bush near Maraba Baisa when the youths and security agents conducted a search for him and his family.
He said when the bodies were found, they invited the police for proper documentation before they were evacuated to the morgue.
Gbaa said, “Pastor Jacob Aba is the pastor of Adi Parish of the African Church in Bali. He left Bali last Wednesday to attend his church congress in Donga; he could not get to the destination, and he did not return home after over three days.
“All the pastors of the parish were worried; the Tiv community was disturbed because of the level of killings going on within the Maraba area. We embarked on a search, and yesterday being Saturday, 16th March, 2024, we found the decomposing bodies of the pastor and his wife in the bush.
“Their 13-month-old baby is still missing. The motorcycle they used for the trip is also nowhere to be found. We were accompanied to the scene by the police to evacuate the bodies,” Gbaa said.
However, Governor Agbu Kefas has since ordered the arrest and prosecution of those behind the Donga killings.