BY MIKE OSAROGIAGBON
Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria – A 60-year-old man has appealed to Edo State Government and the state police command to release the corpse of his mother as his family is ready for burial.
Meanwhile, Edo State Ministry of Health has said that it is unaware that vandals suspected to be body snatchers attacked an embattled ‘mortuary’ where over 20 mummified bodies were discovered last August, as reported by Alltimepost.com on Tuesday.
The sexagenarian who identified himself as Mr. Victor Izivbizua said his mother’s corpse is among the over 20 mummified bodies found in the said ‘mortuary’ along Asoro Slope, Ekehuan Road, Uzebu Quarters, Benin City last August.
He explained that his nonagenarian mother passed away on September 4, 2019, and his sister deposited her corpse in St. Gabriel Funeral Home, Asuen hospital, along First East Circular road, Benin City, before it was relocated along with others to the embattled facility at Asoro slope.
Mr. Victor Izivbizua noted that his mother’s body had been in the morgue since 2019 due to a dispute in his family which has been amicably resolved.
He added that in the wake of the discovered 20 mummified bodies and getting to know the man at the center of the controversy, he went to Asuen Hospital where he was told that the mortuary had been relocated.
“When I was informed that my mother’s corpse is among the 20 bodies they were talking about, I went and made a statement in the Edo State Ministry of Health, Sapele road, Benin-City.
“Since then, I have been in touch with Saint Gabriel who has given me assurances that my mother’s corpse would be released.
“Now we are ready to bury her, it is still the same assurance. I beg the police, Edo State government and whoever is holding my mother’s corpse to release it to us for burial, we want her to rest peacefully,“ Mr. Victor Izivbizua stated.
Some documents obtained from Mr. Victor Izivbizua by our correspondent revealed that one Mrs. Oriri Izivbizua of 13, Eki Street, Off Agbado Street, Benin City was deposited in Saint Gabriel Funeral Home, 15, First East Circular Road, Benin City about 7:28pm on September 4, 2019.
Also, a receipt bearing the morgue’s name initially issued to one Mrs. Mercy Ehioghae which was cancelled and replaced with Mr. Victor Izivbizua indicated that the corpse was tagged 560 and N7,000.00 deposited as part payment out of N13,000.00 embalmment charge, which was also paid, afterwards.
Similarly, in receipts dated May 16, 2022, and April 13, 2023, Mr. Victor Izivbizua paid N100,000.00 and N400,000.00 mortuary bills, respectively.
Contacted, the Permanent Secretary, Edo State Ministry of Health, Dr. Stanley Ehiarimwian who was directed by the Commissioner of the ministry to speak on the issue, confirmed receiving letters from families of the bodies including that from one Mr. Victor Izivbizua.
“The person (Victor Izivbizua) actually applied but I don’t know what has become of this person.
“Some persons actually came through the ministry to take the corpses for burial after we made the announcement. Bodies are not thrown away like a piece of paper.
“They are human beings. They were probably tagged and people who dropped their loved ones there also had means of identification. We had pathologists who did collaborative efforts.
“Those who came that time wrote formally to Edo State government that they want to take the corpses of their loved ones for burial.
“Now that it has become subject of litigation I think the right thing to do is to meet with the police and Ministry of Justice for the process of releasing properly identified corpse. Is the police, we can’t have custody of those things, the only thing we have is our files,” Dr. Stanley Ehiarimwian said.
Further checks revealed that Mr. Victor Izivbizua’s application was received by the state Ministry of Health on September 6, 2022.
“We have not been told of the attack on the facility”, Dr. Stanley Ehiarimwian stated.
It would be recalled that this medium had reported yesterday that vandals suspected to be corpse snatchers attacked an embattled ‘mortuary’ in Benin City, recently.
