The families of 33 abandoned corpses in the hospital’s morgue have been given a 21-day ultimatum by the authorities of Godfrey Okoye University in Enugu State.
According to the administration of the school, if the evacuation order is disobey, the institution would go on to bury the deceased individuals in a mass burial.
The university’s vice chancellor, prof. Christian Anieke, stated during a press conference on Sunday in Enugu that the deadline of November 13 has been decided upon in order to for the university to renovate the morgue.
He revealed that over eighteen years had passed since some of the remains were placed in the mortuary.
Anieke said that the modifications and repairs would qualify the mortuary as suitable for use as a teaching hospital.
He said, “We have got a court injunction to carry out mass burial of the 33 abandoned corpses in our teaching hospital morgue.
“Some of the corpses have been in the mortuary for more than 18 years and it is quite challenging as we want to renovate and make the hospital a befitting one for a teaching hospital.
“I am appealing to those who have corpses in the mortuary to come and remove them.
“We are talking about human beings here and not animals. Go and check if your relations are there.”
Prof. Cajetan Nwadinigwe, the chief medical director of the teaching hospital, disclosed that many of the corpses discovered there are not properly identified.
In his speech, Nwadinigwe mentioned that 14 of the departed had the same name.
It was apparent that some of the corpses had been at the mortuary for more than ten years, but he added there were no records of the dates on which they were placed there.
“This is our basis for approaching the court and advertising the warning in newspapers for families to see,’’ Nwadinigwe said.
