A mortuary attendant at Akugbe Mortuary, located in the Upper Sakponba area of Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, Edo State, has been taken into police custody over allegations that a corpse kept at the facility had missing vital organs.
The incident reportedly happened on Friday and caused unrest when family members and acquaintances of the deceased arrived to retrieve the body for burial and allegedly noticed that some organs were absent.
This discovery led to accusations that the attendant had removed the organs, creating heightened tension and almost resulting in a breakdown of order at the mortuary.
An eyewitness, Osaro Ivie, said the situation quickly became chaotic as tempers flared among family members of the deceased. “The relatives claimed that the chest cavity of the deceased had been emptied and stuffed with nylon,” Ivie said.
He added that the angry crowd threatened to lynch the mortuary attendant and set the facility on fire before police operatives intervened to restore calm.
Confirming the incident on Sunday, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Edo State Police Command, ASP Eno Ikoedem, said the command received a distress call indicating that a suspect was about to be lynched at the mortuary.
“The command received a distress call that someone at Akugbe Mortuary was about to be lynched, and the Divisional Police Officer, Ugbekun Division, was immediately mobilised to rescue a mortuary attendant alleged to have harvested organs of a corpse,” Ikoedem said.
She disclosed that the suspect was rescued from the mob and taken into custody, adding that he was currently being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID.
According to her, investigations were ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the allegation. Ikoedem assured residents that the police would conduct a thorough investigation and urged the public to remain calm and allow due process to take its course.
