Eight family members die in Benue river crash during burial preparations

By : Olayide Soaga

Date: 30 November 2025 2:04pm WAT

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Eight members of the Kyegh family have died after the vehicle conveying them plunged into River Dura in Kwande Local Government Area of Benue State. The victims were reportedly travelling midweek to make final burial arrangements for a relative when the accident occurred.

The incident, The Guardian gathered, that the shocking incident sent waves of grief across their community, leaving neighbours and relatives lamenting the scale of the loss.

The Chairman of Vandeikya Local Government, Mr Dennis Guda, visited the bereaved family and described the incident as “a heartbreaking tragedy that has thrown the entire Vandeikya Local Government into deep mourning.”

He consoled the family, settled all mortuary bills, and donated eight caskets to support burial preparations. Mr Guda added, “No family deserves to go through such unimaginable tragedy alone. We are one people, and their pain is our pain,” assuring the relatives that the council stood firmly with them in their moment of grief.

3 killed in renewed herdsmen attacks in Benue’s Gwer West

Meanwhile, last week, no fewer than three farmers were killed in a fresh armed herdsmen attack on Gilim Ashi village, a settlement along the Naka-Agagbe road in Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State.

The victims were identified as Ioryer Kwaghkaha, Ayila Atsar, and a yet-to-be-identified individual. They were reportedly shot and attacked on Thursday afternoon while working on their farms.

According to a source in the area, the village is a settlement along the Naka-Agagbe road, behind Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Naka town.”

The bodies were evacuated and deposited at the Naka morgue.

The attack has heightened tension and fear in the community and in nearby Naka, the headquarters of the local government area. The killings come a day after armed assailants ambushed and killed a traveller along the Naka-Makurdi road near Kula village.

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