The Lagos State Police Command has arrested seven persons working as
mortuary and cemetery attendants at the St. Raphael’s Devine Mercy
Specialist Hospital Mortuary in Ikorodu, Lagos state over a missing
corpse. Parading the suspects before newsmen on Friday November 23rd,
the state commissioner of police, Edgal Imohimi, said one Athony Lawani,
lodged a complain to the police that the body of his sister, 51 year
old Mary Ehinlaiye which was deposited at the morgue was nowhere to be
found. He had gone to the mortuary to collect his sister's body for
burial but the attendant's could not present the body to him. It was
later discovered that the mortuary attendants had erroneously handed
over the body to another family.“However, one Olusesi Owamade, aged 41
years, a mortuary attendant, with the approval of his supervisor,
Michael Olusegun, aged 65 years, erroneously released the corpse to
another family. When the relations of the deceased woman came for the
release of the corpse for burial, it was nowhere to be found. At this
juncture, it dawned on the mortuary attendants that they had released
the corpse to the wrong persons. To recover the corpse, five grave
diggers working at Sabo Cemetery, Ikorodu were contracted by the
mortuary attendants to exhume the corpse for onward handover to its
owners,” he said.Edgal said the suspects, Michael Olusegun and Olusesi
Owamade who are mortuary attendants and the five gravediggers identified
as Razaki Abesopiti, Okeowo Kazeem, Babatunde Giwa, Ade Aliu and
Musiliu Yakubu, conspired among themselves and dismembered the body of
the deceased by cutting off the two wrists and heart for a yet-to-be
determined reason.“Investigation into this case is in progress, while
efforts are on to arrest one of the grave diggers named Anifowoshe, who
is currently at large. The case will be charged to court and case file
forwarded to the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP)
for legal advice,” he said.Photo: Mortuary, cemetery attendants arrested for allegedly selling body parts of corpses in their custody
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested seven persons working as
mortuary and cemetery attendants at the St. Raphael’s Devine Mercy
Specialist Hospital Mortuary in Ikorodu, Lagos state over a missing
corpse. Parading the suspects before newsmen on Friday November 23rd,
the state commissioner of police, Edgal Imohimi, said one Athony Lawani,
lodged a complain to the police that the body of his sister, 51 year
old Mary Ehinlaiye which was deposited at the morgue was nowhere to be
found. He had gone to the mortuary to collect his sister's body for
burial but the attendant's could not present the body to him. It was
later discovered that the mortuary attendants had erroneously handed
over the body to another family.“However, one Olusesi Owamade, aged 41
years, a mortuary attendant, with the approval of his supervisor,
Michael Olusegun, aged 65 years, erroneously released the corpse to
another family. When the relations of the deceased woman came for the
release of the corpse for burial, it was nowhere to be found. At this
juncture, it dawned on the mortuary attendants that they had released
the corpse to the wrong persons. To recover the corpse, five grave
diggers working at Sabo Cemetery, Ikorodu were contracted by the
mortuary attendants to exhume the corpse for onward handover to its
owners,” he said.Edgal said the suspects, Michael Olusegun and Olusesi
Owamade who are mortuary attendants and the five gravediggers identified
as Razaki Abesopiti, Okeowo Kazeem, Babatunde Giwa, Ade Aliu and
Musiliu Yakubu, conspired among themselves and dismembered the body of
the deceased by cutting off the two wrists and heart for a yet-to-be
determined reason.“Investigation into this case is in progress, while
efforts are on to arrest one of the grave diggers named Anifowoshe, who
is currently at large. The case will be charged to court and case file
forwarded to the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP)
for legal advice,” he said.
