Kehinde Fajobi
The management of Kwara State University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, has urged individuals who deposited corpses at its mortuary to remove them within two weeks, citing overcrowding.
In a statement released on Sunday by Yakub Aliagan, Head of the Corporate Affairs Unit, the hospital announced that the mortuary had exceeded its capacity due to unclaimed bodies.
“The Management of Kwara State University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, wishes to announce to the general public that its Mortuary is filled beyond capacity with no available space due to unclaimed bodies,” the statement read.
The hospital advised families to retrieve the remains of their loved ones between Sunday, December 8, and Saturday, December 21, 2024, warning that the unclaimed corpses would be subjected to mass burial after the deadline.
“The management, therefore, implores the general public to come and retrieve the bodies of their relatives and loved ones within the next two weeks from the time of this announcement, after which the Management will consider decongestion through mass burial,” the statement added.
This development follows recent efforts across other states to manage mortuary congestion. I
n October 2024, the Enugu State Government introduced a mortuary tax, mandating families to pay ₦40 daily for bodies not buried within 24 hours. The policy was intended to discourage prolonged corpse storage.
Meanwhile, on September 18, 2024, the Osun State Police Command arrested seven individuals for allegedly selling human parts and water used for bathing corpses.
A mortuary attendant in Ipetu-Ijesa, Johnson Daniel, was accused of selling remains to native doctors.