Gunmen kill Governor’s aide at venue of burial ceremony in Taraba

Gunmen in the early hours of Saturday killed Hon. Levi Gbashi, an aide of Governor Darius Ishaku, in Donga Local Government Area of Taraba State.

An eyewitness, Mr Tortsua Naagh, told our correspondent on the phone that the incident happened at Ityopaa Village when he and the late Gbashi were about to leave the venue of the burial they attended in the village.

According to him, “We were leaving the venue of the burial on a motorcycle when some young men stopped our motorcycle and ordered us to kneel down.

“We refused to comply with their order as we bought time to attract the attention of the people who were around.

“One of them opened fire and shot at Gbashi three times and killed him instantly.

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

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

Naagh added that the gunmen took away the corpse of the late Gbashi and ran into the bush.

Chairman of Donga Local Government Council, Hon. Nashuka Ipeyen, confirmed the incident and said he has deployed Special Forces to the area.

“Yes, it’s unfortunate that the incident happened. I spoke with the commander of the Special Forces and he has deployed his personnel to the area.

“Soldiers are currently combing the bushes in the area in search of the corpse,” he said.

Taraba State Police Command’s 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. No update has been gotten from him as of the time of filing this report. (Sunday PUNCH: Excludes headline)