Four days after seven passengers in an 18-seater bus were killed to retaliate 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 Donga local government area of Taraba State while their baby is yet to be seen.
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 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 of Tiv stock were killed on Maraba-Baisa Bali Road.
The head of Tiv traditional rulers in the state and the Ter Bali, Chief David Gbaa, told LEADERSHIP 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 in Adi Parish of 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.
The commissioner of police in the state, David Iloyonomon, did not respond when contacted over the incident.
However, Governor Agbu Kefas has since ordered for the arrest and prosecution of those behind the Donga killings.