Lagos Gives Families Two Weeks To Claim Corpses At Mortuaries, Mass Burial To Be Conducted For Unclaimed Bodies

The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has disclosed that mortuaries in Lagos are congested as relatives are unable to hold funerals due to the lockdown in the state.

Sanwo-olu during a press briefing on Saturday, April 25, 2020 said the mortuaries need to be decongested quickly, adding that the state of the mortuaries are as a result of covid-19 pandemic.

He said:

Because of this inability to hold funerals, occasioned by the restriction on movement, the mortuaries in Lagos State are now full and in urgent need of decongestion. Let me make it clear at this point that these are not Covid-19 deaths,” he said.

I am now constrained to make this appeal to all Lagosians who have the corpses of loved ones in the mortuaries, to please go ahead and schedule these funerals.

The mortuaries in Lagos are not full because of Covid-19 deaths –the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Lagos as at today is 20; the only reason the mortuaries are full at this time is because funerals are not being held, and have not been held for most of the last two months,”

According to the Lagos state Governor, the government would conduct mass burials for dead bodies in state’s mortuaries not evacuated for burial by their families within the next two weeks.

Today, I gave an order that families who have corpses of loved ones in our mortuaries have 2 weeks to pick the bodies for funeral so as to decongest our facilities.

This is not the time when you need to wait for your brother or your sister or your sibling, who is 10,000km or 6,000km away from here for them to come back before you can have the funeral.

These are very difficult times and I can imagine that families and relatives and siblings will understand that we need to have this and we need to put this behind us.

So, we are reiterating it again that we’ll give two weeks window and we’ll expect a lot of people to comply after which the state government might have to take other decisions in that manner. Lagos state Governor

For the next 2 weeks Lagosians can hold or attend funeral ceremonies in the state as long as they comply with the requirements of the state, which are as follows:

• The total number of persons at the funeral, including officiating religious leaders, must not exceed 20.
• Physical distancing must be maintained at the funeral ceremony.
• All attendees/mourners must use masks and ensure they wash their hands after the ceremony.
• There must be no receptions or parties to accompany the funerals.