The Oyo State Government has issued a seven-day ultimatum to families and next of kin of unclaimed corpses deposited in public hospital mortuaries across the state, warning that all unclaimed bodies will be given a mass burial after the expiration of the notice.
The directive was announced on Monday by the Commissioner for Health in Oyo State, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, who said the decision became necessary due to severe congestion in mortuary facilities and the rising number of abandoned corpses.
According to her, the bodies—brought in by security and emergency agencies including the Nigeria Police Force, Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigerian Correctional Service, and others—have remained unclaimed for extended periods, leading to overcrowding and storage challenges in several public health institutions.
Ajetunmobi explained that the situation had reached critical levels, with many mortuaries now operating beyond capacity, thereby threatening effective healthcare service delivery and public health standards in the state.
She urged residents with missing relatives to urgently visit designated public hospital mortuaries to identify and claim any suspected bodies, stressing that the window of opportunity would close within seven days from the date of the announcement.
“The Oyo State Government remains committed to maintaining acceptable public health standards and ensuring the effective management of healthcare facilities across the state,” she said, adding that arrangements had already been concluded for the mass burial of all unclaimed corpses once the deadline expires.
Officials said the measure was part of efforts to decongest mortuary facilities and restore order to the state’s health infrastructure, while appealing to families to take advantage of the limited timeframe before the planned disposal exercise begins.
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