Over 50 corpses abandoned for more than 10 years in UCTH to be given mass burial

The administration of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, UCTH, have introduced that there are over 50 corpses in their morgues which have been abandoned for over 10 years, more than the statutory three months interval.

The UCTH administration have defined that the hospital now not has area in the morgue to protect more our bodies.

According to the hospital’s administration, kinfolk of the deceased haven’t come to declare the our bodies after a number of years.

As a outcome, Chairman of the Special Task Force on the Evacuation of Abandoned and Unclaimed Corpses at UCTH, Dr David (*50*), mentioned a choice has been taken to conduct mass burial of the abandoned corpses on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, after the expiration of a 3 weeks grace interval.

The administration, nonetheless, once more known as on households and people with unclaimed corpses in the morgue to determine and retrieve them on or earlier than October 21, 2026.

(*50*) disclosed that the hospital made efforts to find kinfolk of the deceased, all to no avail, warning that every one our bodies nonetheless unclaimed would be given mass burial with out additional discover.

“The October 21 deadline remains firm.  The hospital would not issue another notice before carrying out the mass burial”, he confused.

Speaking earlier on behalf of the Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee in cost of Clinical Services, Dr Stephen Ogbudu, attributed the rising variety of unclaimed our bodies to the rising price of burial ceremonies and cultural practices that place vital monetary tasks on bereaved households and their in-laws.

He famous that the directive lined corpses stored in the mortuary past the statutory 90-day interval from the date they have been deposited.

He disclosed that a few of the our bodies had been in the morgue for more than a decade.

According to him, the extended storage of the our bodies has made it needed to undertake the evacuation train to ease stress on the mortuary, enhance sanitation and create a greater surroundings for medical companies.