Mortuary attendants confess over missing corpse
Two mortuary attendants at the National Hospital, Abuja, who were arrested by the FCT police command last month over a missing corpse, have confessed to the crime.
FCT Police Commissioner Lawrence Alobi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Thursday in Abuja that the suspects confessed that they had released the corpse to an unknown woman after being tipped.
The deceased, Mr Rowland Ekati, who hailed from Bayelsa, was a secretary to the minister for science and technology and died in a motor accident on Oct. 7.
His body was subsequently deposited at the mortuary of the National Hospital on the same day by the police.
The attendants were handed over to the police by the hospital authorities when the family of the deceased came to claim his corpse for burial, but discovered that it was missing.
Alobi said that the police was making efforts to identify and locate the woman the attendants released the body to.
He noted that police investigation revealed that the deceased had three wives and the unknown woman who was alleged to have claimed the corpse happened to be one of the wives.
Alobi, however, did not disclose how much was collected by the attendants, saying that investigations were still on.
Also speaking on the issue, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Dr Segun Ajuwon, described the incident as strange and highly embarrassing.
`` It is a strange thing, because one expects that the body at least should be resting by now,'' he said.
Ajuwon stated that there were laid down procedures for depositing and claiming corpses, noting that every corpse that was deposited and claimed was registered with the name, address and phone numbers of both the depositor and claimant.
The CMD said that the attendants who were on duty that day broke the procedures, adding that there was no record that the corpse had been claimed.
``Our investigations indicated that it was not a case of swapping of bodies but more of a mischief and criminal offence and so we have to bring in the police,'' he said.
Ajuwon pointed out that no effort would be spared to ensure that the corpse was found.
`` I know we will find the body, we have been praying and fasting until the body is found, '' he said.
He appealed to the family and relatives of the deceased to assist the police with any information that could assist in the investigation, saying that the possibility of a family feud could not be ruled out..