Mr. Tortsua Naagh, an eyewitness, said that the incident occurred in Ityopaa village as he and the late Gbashi were about to leave the site of a burial they had attended in the village.

He said; “We were leaving the venue of the burial on a motorcycle when some young men stopped our motorcycle and ordered us to kneel.

“We refused to comply as we wanted to buy time to attract the attention of people who were still around.

“One of them opened fire on Hon. Gbashi three times and killed him instantly.

“He turned to me and the gun hooked. In the process of running to get another gun from one of them, I also ran and entered the crowd at the venue of the burial.

“He followed me, but could not get me, that was how I escaped death by the whiskers.”

The gunmen, according to Naagh, took the late Gbashi’s corpse and fled into the jungle.

Hon. Nashuka Ipeyen, chairman of the Donga local government council, confirmed the occurrence, adding he had dispatched security officers to the vicinity.

Taraba State police spokesman, DSP Usman Abdullahi, said he was not aware of the development and promised to get back to our correspondent when information about the incident was available to him.

In another report, police in Anambra State confirmed a brutal attack by suspected cultists during a burial in Ebenebe community, Awka North local government area, yesterday.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the 34-year-old man whose burial was being held at the time of the incident was also killed by suspected cultists on Dec. 30, 2021.

He was shot at Awka North’s Amansea Area.

“A burial was going on when some persons presumed to be cultists attacked the location and started firing,” said DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, a police spokesman in Anambra, who confirmed the incident.