Tension erupted at Akugbe Mortuary in Edo State on Friday after a mortuary attendant narrowly escaped lynching over allegations that vital organs were removed from a corpse deposited at the facility.
The family of the deceased alleged that when they arrived to collect the body for burial at the mortuary, located at Upper Sakponba in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, they discovered that some organs were removed.
The development reportedly angered relatives and friends of the deceased, who attempted to set the mortuary ablaze and lynch the attendant before police operatives intervened.
In a viral video of the incident seen by our correspondent, a man was heard saying, “The body we came to collect has nothing inside. There is nothing in his chest. They filled his stomach with nylon.”
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An eyewitness, Osaro Ivie, said the situation became tense as family members accused the attendant of harvesting the organs for ritual purposes.
“The relatives claimed that the chest cavity of the deceased had been emptied and stuffed with nylon,” he said.
Confirming the incident, the Edo State Police Command spokesperson, ASP Eno Ikoedem, said a mortuary attendant was rescued from a mob and arrested over the alleged removal of organs from a corpse.
“The Command received a distress call that someone at Akugbe Mortuary was about to be lynched. The Divisional Police Officer of Ugbekun Division was immediately mobilised to rescue a mortuary attendant alleged to have harvested organs from a corpse,” she said.
Ikoedem added that the suspect is currently being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), while investigations are ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.
