AKURE – The Ondo state government Monday announced plans to conduct a mass burial for over 400 abandoned corpses currently overcrowding morgues in the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital (UNIMEDTH) complexes in Akure.
Sources said no fewer than 402 bodies have been left unclaimed in the facilities over the last four to five years, raising public health concerns in the hospital facility.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, in a directive conveyed through his special adviser on Health, Prof. Michael Simidele Odimayo, ordered the immediate burial of the corpses to prevent potential hazards to the people of the state.
The statement titled: “List of Unknown and Abandoned Bodies in UNIMEDTH Ondo and Akure Complexes,” noted that the government has given families a 21-day ultimatum to identify and reclaim the remains of their relatives before the mass burial exercise.
Sources said out of the 402 corpses, 322 remained unidentified, while 80 have been identified but left unclaimed.
Records show that 146 are female (117 unknown, 29 known) while 256 are male (205 unknown, 51 known).
The government urged members of the public to present valid evidence when claiming the bodies of their loved ones on or before the expiration of the ultimatum given.
