Recent reports of an abandoned mortuary in Emohua local government of Rivers State are a reflection of the situation in the country. While the council chairman claims it is an illegal mortuary being used as a depot for dead kidnapped victims, police authorities in the state countered that the General Hospital which houses the mortuary was abandoned more than a decade ago and that the attendants stayed back to look after the bodies to avoid an epidemic. Whatever may be the real reason for why the mortuary was abandoned, it is our society that is greatly devalued because the issue at stake here is the sanctity of human lives.

Unfortunately, this public health concern is not exclusive to this abandoned hospital in Rivers State. Last week, at least six corpses were burnt beyond recognition at a morgue located in Agagbe, Gwer West local government area of Benue State, in what was said to be an act of sabotage. It is a measure of how much premium is placed on humanity in our country that even after they are dead, Nigerians are not treated with dignity. While hundreds of corpses stay in mortuaries for years without anybody coming forward to claim them, some new corpses are dumped at these ill-maintained mortuaries by relatives or security operatives who bring in dead accident victims or dead armed robbers, thereby increasing the pressure on these facilities. But the large number of unclaimed corpses in Rivers and those burnt in Benue constitute a major health hazard for communities living around the environment, especially at a time the country is battling bouts of disease outbreak.

Meanwhile, the fact that thousands of unclaimed corpses are lying in different morgues across the country, some for years, has encouraged a lot of unwholesome practices by mortuary attendants, many of whom are unprofessional. Besides, most of the mortuaries are housed in ramshackle buildings which reek of filth and decaying bodies and attract swarm of flies. The treatment meted to the dead is even more troubling, utterly contemptuous, and psychologically traumatic. Bodies are washed in the open, to the gaze of everyone, and kept in unrefrigerated and dirty containers, making them to decompose at will. To compound the situation, water used in bathing the dead is improperly disposed of as it is carelessly poured on the ground where it can easily seep into shallow wells. These dead bodies are also piled on top of one another with fluids from those on upper cabinet freely dripping to the bodies underneath.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said one of the ways to provide respect for the dead is for mortuaries to give each corpse the dignity it deserves through freezing, cabinet placement and proper labelling for easy identification. Unfortunately, these cannot be provided in facilities where bodies are piled upon each other because of congestion. This clearly is the case in Nigeria where mortuaries are congested. Apart from the health hazards associated with this situation, congestions take dignity away from the corpses.

While it may not be the fault of the health authorities in the states that there are large unclaimed bodies in mortuary facilities, they should make conscious efforts to ensure every corpse is buried with dignity irrespective of how long they may have been abandoned. Beyond that, however, there is the larger issue of how we treat the dead in Nigeria. We must embrace a more dignifying culture of treating the deceased.