Health experts and stakeholders in the health sector including residents and Civil Societies have raised the alarm over the sale and conversion of Public and Government-owned Cemeteries to residential homes in some parts of Anambra State.

The Cemetery in Oraifite Street, Awada Obosi in Idemili North Local Government Area, and New Cemetery Road in Odoakpu, in Onitsha North Local Government Area of the state, have been sold out to different individuals.

Findings by South-East PUNCH revealed that several petitions to the State Urban Development Board, including the State Ministries of Health and Environment, have yielded no results as this has continued to pose environmental and health risks to unsuspecting residents.

Checks by our correspondent in Anambra State indicated that these large portions of lands used for cemetery purpose several decades back have been converted to residential buildings without proper reburial of the human remains, thereby posing potential health and environmental implications to the already densely populated areas.

Some of the concerned stakeholders in the state such as health experts, civil society groups including Campaign for Campaign for Democracy and Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defender’s Foundation, are worried that if this trend continues, it might lead to epidemic and there is a need for the authorities concerned to heed the call for its sanity.

An Ecologist, Dr. Chinedu Ibeh, who spoke to South-East PUNCH expressed fears that converting cemeteries to residential buildings could spark significant health consequences, including emotional and cultural implications to residents in such areas.

Ibeh said, “These public-owned cemeteries have been existing for many decades ago, they were vast lands initially owned by the government and it was serving its purpose until people started encroaching into them in recent times and converting them to residential buildings and churches without exhuming and relocating the human remains because of its complex and costly nature.

“Inasmuch as there is growing population which has given rise for more accommodation, people should ensure the right thing is done.

Converting cemeteries into residential homes poses several environmental concerns such as potential contamination of water from embalming fluids.

“Soil and groundwater pollution, exposure to hazardous materials, potential for disease transmission, emotional and psychological impacts, disturbance of human remains and emotional distress for families of the dead. These dangers highlight the need for careful consideration and planning when repurposing cemetery land.”

Also, expressing their concerns, in a press statement he sent to our correspondent, the Chairman of Campaign for Democracy, South-East chapter and Executive Director, Human Rights Liberty Access and Peace Defenders’ Foundation, Chief Uzor A. Uzor, called on the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to as a matter of urgent importance, recover all public cemeteries taken over by individuals and organisations in Onitsha and environs.

Uzor lamented that there is no public cemeteries in Onitsha again as they have been sold and converted to individual use.

There is no place to bury the dead in Onitsha now. The ones in Oraifite Street, Awada-Obosi, in Idemili North LGA, and New Cemetery Road in Odoakpu, Onitsha have been sold out to different people.

“The only cemetery in Onitsha is the one owned by the Moslem community in Onitsha along Modebe Avenue, Odoakpu Onitsha.”

He called on the Anambra State Governor to as a matter of urgency recover all those cemeteries so that there would be a place to bury the dead in Onitsha and environs.

“There should be a place for people to bury their dead in Onitsha and environs. All those cemeteries taken over and converted to individual use like the one in Oraifite Street Awada-Obosi and New Cemetery Road, where private buildings, churches and residential houses are springing up, should be recovered with immediate effect by the Anambra State Government,” Uzor added.

According to him, some of these cemeteries have been taken over by the two major churches in the state, the Roman Catholic and the Anglican church, especially that of Old Cemetery Road in Odoakpu, Onitsha.

“Governments should activate all the instruments in her disposal with the respective local government to move into action immediately. It is very disheartening that parts of the cemeteries have been taken over by churches.

“Those cemeteries should be recovered with immediate effect. Government should remove sentiment and have the political will to do what is right and that is revoking all the buildings and churches and recover the cemeteries now,” Uzor said.

In a swift reaction, when contacted, the secretary of Onitsha South Local Government Area, Paul Onuachara, agreed that the cemeteries have been converted for residential houses, and appealed to the state government to take urgent action.

“It is true sir. We are also appealing to Mr. Governor and ministry of lands to act accordingly,” Onuachara added.

It is alleged that some officials of the state government are the ones selling these vast several hectares of lands used as cemeteries for decades to individuals who now convert them to residential houses and churches without applying the necessary environmental precautions as regards the human remains.

When contacted, the state Commissioner for Environment, Felix Odimegwu, referred our correspondent to the ministry of health, saying cemetery matters are under the ministry of health.

However, every effort to get the reactions of the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike, proved abortive as he did not respond to several messages and reminders to his telephone line. (The PUNCH)