Family Threatens Gbagada General Hospital's Morgue Management With Court Action After Recovering Missing Corpse

Adjekpagbon Blessed Mudiaga

The family of late Mrs. Mary Ayoka Olugbenga, a former evangelist of the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministry, who was worshipping at the church’s headquarters, Iwaya, Lagos has threatened to take legal action against TOS Funeral’s management, operating a morgue at the Gbagada General Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria. The deceased was said to have died at about 9pm in her car on the 14th of October in Mile 12 area, while being taken to a health centre for treatment after a protracted illness. According to Comrade F. Tugbobo, National Planning Officer of Community Surveillance Patrol of Nigeria, Lagos Command, “The late Mrs. Olugbenga was my very good friend. The unfortunate incident happened as she was being carried to where she could be treated. “Her body was deposited in a morgue at Gbagada General Hospital the very day she died. Few days later, the family went to collect the corpse only to find out that it has been released to a different family for burial. After frantic efforts and serious arguments, it was discovered that the corpse was wrongly tagged and given to a man who had also deposited his late wife’s corpse on the 14th of October. The man who received the corpse thinking that it was his late wife’s, had buried her at Matori Cemetery, Mushin, Lagos. “It was after the pictures of his late wife which was still in the morgue, and that of my late friend were taken to the bereaved man that he knew that a wrong corpse was the one he buried as his wife. His children also corroborated that the body given to their father as that of their late mother was not hers, but their father did not believe, until the family of my late friend traced him through his phone number and address he had presented at the morgue.” The body of late Mrs. Olugbenga was later exhumed and handed over to her family members for proper burial. However, Folorunsho Adeoluwa, a relative of late Mrs. Olugbenga was quoted to have threatened to take legal action against the morgue’s owners and staff. Nonetheless, Comrade Tugbobo laments the poor state of health facilities and lackadaisical attitude of many Lagos state General Hospitals health workers. She added that “I am displeased by this type of negligence in many public health centres being operated by the Lagos state government. The government should be up and doing by disciplining all erring staff working in the state owned hospitals and other sectors where carelessness has been their routine. “The most annoying part is that, the phone of a family member of my late friend was smashed to smithereens by the TOS Funerals / Gbagada General Hospital morgue attendants to cover up their negligence, when they were exhuming the corpse and it was being recorded with the phone’s video. “If the family of my late friend had wasted much time before going to claim her corpse, that is how she could have not been traced for reburial. Such negligence has been a common practice among many Lagos state health centre staff.” In this vein. Comrade Tugbobo also said, Comrade Olayinka Obigbesan, Commandant General of the Community Surveillance Patrol of Nigeria, and other members of the association are vigorously surveying several negative practices going on in various sectors of the state, to enlighten the state government for immediate action and improvement.