On Tuesday, the Ondo State Government announced that it has disposed of a few unclaimed bodies in the Ondo and Akure mortuaries of the University of Medical Science Teaching Hospital.
According to the authorities, 496 corpses at the morgues were impacted, and they were all given mass burials.
Dr Francis Faduyile, the Special Advisor to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on Health, made the announcement in a statement released by Bisi Lawani, the state ministry of health’s press officer.
Faduyile stated that the government’s action was a result of a recent assessment tour he and other government officials undertook of the morgues in the two health facilities.
He and other officials were horrified to see the morgues’ gruesome state and noted that the facilities had been crammed with unclaimed bodies for more than a year, according to Faduyile.
According to the special adviser, after the trip, he sent a memo to the governor advising him of the need to clean up and decongest the morgues, which he claimed had become an actual eyesore.
He stated that the exercise was conducted in accordance with the approved memo and the law.
Faduyile said, “Mr. Governor did not hesitate to approve the memo to carry out the proposed mass burial activities, so as to avoid an imminent outbreak of epidemic diseases in the state.”
“In all (the morgues), 87 bodies were identified/known with their name tags while 409 were unknown and a total of 496 bodies underwent mass burial.
“The 21-day ultimatum as publicised on prints and electronic media commenced on the 1st of August and lapsed on the 21st of August, 2022. Thereafter, preparations for the mass burial commenced.
“On Friday, September 2nd, 2022, the mass burial was carried out, with the protection of security operative.
“The bodies were buried in a deep grave of 10 by 10 feet wide, and 18 feet depth, at the allocated land by the state government”.
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