The Benue State Police Command has confirmed that six corpses were burnt beyond recognition at a morgue located in Agagbe, Gwer West Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue state.
It was gathered from a source in the area who spoke on condition of anonymity that the morgue which belonged to the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church Parish Agagbe mysteriously went up in flames at about 5pm on Friday.
He said some of the locals were accusing armed herdsmen, who recently moved into parts of the community from neighboring Nasarawa state, of setting fire on the morgue.
“Though the people suspected that the mortuary could have been sabotaged probably by armed herdsmen who have been moving into our communities recently from neighboring Nasarawa state, nobody has been able to ascertain that allegation.
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“Our people said they saw fire on the roof of the mortuary and nobody could get close let alone make attempt to recover the corpses in the morgue.
“The corpses in the morgue were all burnt beyond recognition and families that lost the corpses of loved ones in the mysterious fire are all grieving their loss.”
Confirming the development, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent, SP, Catherine Anene, said investigation into the matter was ongoing.
“The incident is true. The DPO is on it already. The information we received is that the fire started somewhere and only extended to the morgue and corpses were burnt in the inferno,” she said
