The Lagos State Police Command has arrested four gravediggers and declared manhunt on a mortuary attendant for allegedly selling body parts of a dead person in Ikorodu area of the state.
The Police, however , warned that they would deal with anybody found treating the dead indecently. The police said that the four gravediggers are staffs of a Local Government attached to one
of the cemetery in the state.
Those arrested are Razaki Abesopiti, 50, Okeowo Kazeem, 46, Babatunde Giwa, 50, Ade Aliu, 43, years and Musiliu Yakubu,’ 56.
It was gathered that their arrested followed a complaint of missing part of a 51-year old dead lady, Mary Ehinlaiye.
While parading the suspects, the Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, said the suspects were arrested on Tuesday.
Edgal said: “the Command received a complaint from o Anthony Lawani, younger brother to Mary Ehinlaiye, now deceased, 51, that body parts of the deceased were sliced off by a yet to be identified persons.
“Based on the complaint, I directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police, SCIID, Panti, Yaba to investigate the matter. Preliminary investigation revealed that the corpse was deposited at St. Raphael Devine Mercy Specialist Hospital Mortuary along Ijede Road, Ikorodu for preservation.
The CP further said, one Olusesi Owamade, aged 41 years, a mortuary attendant with the approval of his supervisor, Michael Olusegun, aged 65 years, erroneously released the corpse to another family.
“When the relations of the deceased woman came for the release of the corpse for burial, it was nowhere to be found.
“It then dawned on the mortuary attendants that they had released the corpse to the wrong persons. To recover the corpse, the following gravediggers working at Sabo Cemetery, Ikorodu were contacted by the mortuary attendants to exhume the corpse for onward handover to its owner.
“It is established that the aforementioned suspects conspired among themselves and dismembered the body of the deceased by cutting off the two wrists and heart for a yet to be determined reason.
“Investigation into this case is in progress while the effort is on to arrest one of the gravediggers, Anifowoshe currently at large.”
The Commissioner, however, added that the case file has been forwarded to the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice and the case will be charged to court as soon as the DPP advice is out.
He warned gravediggers and mortuary attendants to allow the dead to arrest as the police would charge any person found wanting for indecent treatment on the dead. The dead should be accorded respect and treated decently.
