In utter disregard for human
dignity, decency and well-being of the public, morticians at the Ikorodu
General Hospital wash bodies in the open with water fetched in battered old
plastic buckets, a PREMIUM TIMES investigation has found.
When PREMIUM TIMES visited the
mortuary, many of the bodies, carelessly kept in an unrefrigerated shipping
container, were already decomposing – fluid from the bodies kept in the upper
cabinets was dripping freely on the bodies below. One bereaved husband, who had
to remove the body of his wife due to the shabby way it was handled, described
seeing a body so badly decomposed that its head was almost severed from its
body.
The Lagos State government says
its vision for health in the state is to “attain excellence in health service
delivery by applying best practices at all levels of care.”
However the state of the
mortuary in Ikorodu can only represent the worst kind of health service
delivery obtainable.
The general filth and the smell
of decaying bodies that pervades the area is a bazaar for swarm of flies.
Visitors also fear the mortuary portends a serious health concern to the
environment as well as workers, patients and other inhabitants of the area in
and around the hospital. For instance, the hospital’s canteen and catering
services department is just few metres from the makeshift mortuary.
Not fit for dead dogs
“By the time we got there I
could see them washing dead bodies in the public just by the side of the
container. When the container was opened, what I saw was unbefitting for the
body of a dead goat or dog,” said Olu Famuyiwa, a septuagenarian who removed
the body of his wife to another mortuary after it was treated shabbily.
“When the mortuary was open, I
saw about six or seven bodies already swollen, smelling and water dropping from
them. Because of the tip we gave the attendants they cleared the upper shelf
for my wife’s body. As we were about to leave, they asked me to buy a white
linen cloth the following day to cover her body.
I gave them N1000 to buy the
cloth, as I wasn’t ready to come all the way from Lagos just for that purpose.
But to my surprise, embarrassment and humiliation, when I returned she was
completely naked except for a piece of perforated cloth used to cover her
private part. Don’t forget that they collected money from me to buy white
cloth,” he continued.
He also complained that his wife
wasn’t properly embalmed as her complexion quickly turned unusually dark and
had started swelling. He said if he didn’t remove his wife’s body when he did,
it would have further decomposed.
“Her face was black already and
the rest of her body was gradually turning black and swollen. I don’t think the
man that did the embalming knows his job or was properly trained.
“The skin of the bodies under
her body was already peeling and water dropping from them was terrible. The
last body – lying on the floor of the container – its head was almost severed
from its body due to decomposition. I decided there and then to remove the body
of my wife but because it was on a Saturday, we had to wait till Monday to
remove her body,” he added.
Standing just outside the
canteen, one can clearly see unclad bodies sprawled on the mortuary’s cabinet
through its unclosed door. Water used in bathing the bodies is poured on the
ground where it can easily flow into shallow wells, which are common in the
area.
Ahmed Anuoluwapo, a mortician at
a privately run mortuary, Omega Funeral Home, said proper disposal of water and
other materials used in bathing the dead is an essential part of a mortician’s
job so as not to expose inhabitants of the area around a mortuary to diseases.
“It is important that the bath
water is collected and drained properly so it doesn’t find its way to public
supply of water,” Mr. Anuoluwapo said. “If the water used in mortuary gets into
a stream, for instance, it could lead to serious health implications.”
Not a mortuary
Bizarrely, while bodies were
allowed to rot in the shipping container, a recently constructed mortuary sat
about two metres away, unused.
When PREMIUM TIMES visited, some
mortuary workers were sleeping on straw mats on its veranda with files of
document scattered around them.
According to mortuary
attendants, the building would not be used until it was commissioned by the
Lagos Commissioner of Health, Olajide Idris.
Morticians have also been
accused of extorting grieving families. Families were prevented from taking the
bodies of their loved ones, even after paying the required charges for
embalming. Morticians at the hospital demand not less than N3,000 before bodies
are released.
“When we were about to take her
body, three mortuary attendants refused to allow us demanding that we must give
them N3000,” Mr. Famuyiwa lamented. “I asked them what the money was for
because we had paid for the embalmment and well as the daily charges for
keeping her body and we also paid some tips.
“I said I was going to bring out
the body myself and I started undressing but they stopped me saying it is not
done. This is not a mortuary and I cannot allow her to stay here. Some of those
with me eventually gave them N2, 000 before they released my wife’s body for
me.”
Several attempts to get the
Lagos State health officials to comment for this story was unsuccessful, with
officials tossing this reporter around for several weeks.
He was asked by the hospital’s
administrative officer to go get authorisation from the state’s health service
commission before he would be spoken to. He did not get the authorisation he
sought at the commission but was further asked to apply for an interview with
the Commissioner.
Several days after a letter for
interview was submitted, the commissioner was yet to respond.
As at late last week, a
middle-aged woman at the commissioner’s office, who identified herself as Mrs.
Oyin, told this reporter his letter hadn’t been treated yet.
Source: Premium Times
No comments:
Post a Comment