A mild drama played out at the Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State wednesday, when the court clerk read out a case between the Federal Medical Centre, Ovom in Yenagoa and 121 unclaimed corpses.
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“Now everybody is afraid because they have mentioned corpses,”
the judge joked.
Lawyers and others in the courtroom were shocked so Justice Ajiya Nganjiwa sought to allay the fears of occupants of the courtroom. But the lawyer to FMC, Bayelsa, Mr. K. Clement, prayed the court to grant his 14-paragraph application requesting that the hospital should be given the go-ahead to give the unclaimed corpses a mass burial.
After listening to the argument backing the application, the judge concurred, stating that it was
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“time to allow the dead rest in peace”. “The application is hereby granted for all the 121 abandoned corpses to be buried. All agencies and bodies involved must comply with this order,”
he said.
The federal hospital had argued that the corpses would get a mass burial if the relatives of the deceased did not collect them.
We gathered that many of the bodies had been abandoned for over 10 years, thereby blocking space for fresh corpses.
Dr. Dennis Allagoa, Chief Medical Director (CMD) of FMC, Yenagoa, had earlier explained that the decision, among others, was taken to create space in the mortuary as fresh corpses were being brought in on a daily basis.
He also cited pollution of the health facility as reason for the decision to evacuate the cadavers in the next three weeks.
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“We issued a 21-day public notice because we noticed that corpses have littered the entire mortuary and there was no space to take in new corpses. “As the decay goes on in the mortuary, the corpses have become a threat to human life because chemical and biochemical effects are on-going. “So we want to clean up the area so that people can enjoy the benefit of a good site and space to bring in their corpses,”
the CMD said.
Dr. Allagoa added that most of the unclaimed corpses were deposited by security personnel while others were found on the roads and creeks and brought to the morgue.
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“A lot of them were corpses that were deposited by the security agents. Most of them are just bones, legs; they are not actually full body parts. “People that died on the road, they brought them, from the river they brought them. People that died due to militancy, they brought them in their mass and they kept them here,”
Allagoa explained.
I am a metro reporter on Gistmania, I have been publishing news materials for over 5 years
Posted: at 23-06-2016 02:37 PM (8 years ago) | Hero
EDDYPRINCE at 23-06-2016 03:16 PM (8 years ago) (m)
Bayelsa Federal Hospital Sues 121 Unclaimed Corpses ,,, lolzzzz funny headline,,,, we hear.
Posted: at 23-06-2016 03:16 PM (8 years ago) | Addicted Hero
Slimchery at 23-06-2016 03:36 PM (8 years ago) (m)
innocent people that was kill by soldiers and police, what a shame naija and buhari is there fight opposition and not corruption, when will naija be a place to call home again
Posted: at 23-06-2016 03:36 PM (8 years ago) | Gistmaniac
This is not the way to treat the dead. The hospital needs not sensationalize it afterall LUTH has been burying unclaimed dead bodies for years without this kind of public ridicule. Just advertise and get the affidavit to support the claims that the relatives didn't come forward to claim the bodies and on the day of burial, all agencies of government be represented to witness it. If every court starts taking this kind of plea, there will be no time for more serious things. I think that CMD, Mr Allagoa should be cautioned by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. It's purely unprofessional,a dead body without claim has no locus standi so who is he fooling? Same way people abandon their cars, electronic equipment etc at various workshop , same way pple deposit corps @ the mortuary and forget them there . Na waoh if ur person die and there is no Money...Bury him or her..if money come ...u do the ceremony..
Posted: at 23-06-2016 08:58 PM (8 years ago) | Hero