20/09/2025
Government Conducts Mass Burial for 402 Abandoned Bodies.
In a bid to address a growing public health concern, the Ondo State government has conducted a mass burial for 402 unclaimed bodies that had been left in the morgues of the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH) complexes in Akure and Ondo towns for as long as five years.
The grim exercise highlights a persistent issue in Nigeria: the abandonment of corpses in hospital morgues. The reasons for this are multifaceted, ranging from the inability of families to afford funeral rites to cultural beliefs and instances where victims of accidents or crime are never identified.
According to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Prof. Michael Simidele Odimayo, the decision to carry out the mass burial was taken to decongest the mortuaries and prevent the outbreak of diseases. The government had previously issued a 21-day ultimatum for families to come forward and claim the bodies of their relatives, but the majority remained unclaimed.
Of the 402 bodies, a significant number were unidentified. The accumulation of these bodies over the years had put a strain on the hospital's facilities and posed a health risk to the staff and the surrounding community.
Accordingly, healthcare workers, who have had to contend with the overcrowded morgues, have expressed relief that the situation is being addressed. However, they also point to the emotional and psychological toll of dealing with unclaimed bodies for extended periods.
The Ondo State government haven ensured strict adherence to due process before carrying out the mass burial has called on citizens to prioritize the timely burial of their loved ones to avoid a recurrence of this unfortunate situation. The mass burial serves as a stark reminder of the societal challenges that often go unseen, even in death.
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