The University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) revealed on Tuesday that it will conduct a mass burial for 270 corpses if their families and loved ones fail to claim their bodies in six weeks, News About Nigeria reports.
The warning was made by the Coordinator of Mortuary Services at UBTH, Dr. Ehizogie Egbeobauwaye Adeyemi, on Tuesday.
According to Adeyemi, the 270 corpses comprised 201 infants and 69 adults deposited at the hospital between April 2021 and 2023.
She further disclosed that before the decision for mass burial was reached, the hospital had tried to contact the addresses and phone numbers provided by the owners of the corpses to them, but to no avail, as the numbers were no longer reachable or valid.
She said, “The 201 infants have been in the hospital since 2023, while the 69 adults (were brought in) from April 2021 to December 2022. At the expiration of the six weeks ultimatum, the hospital would conduct a mass burial for the unclaimed corpses if the owners failed to claim them.
“This is to inform the general public that the management of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) has concluded plans to dispose of all unclaimed corpses that have been in the hospital mortuary for a very long time. For the avoidance of doubt, such corpses include those of infants that have been in the mortuary since January, 2023 and corpses of adults that have been in the mortuary from April 2021 to December 2022. Therefore, owners of such corpses are hereby given six weeks’ notice from the date of this publication to claim their corpse(s).”
