A mortuary attendant in the Upper Sakponba area of Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State has been taken into police custody following allegations of missing vital organs from a corpse deposited at Akugbe Mortuary.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) the news of the incident sparked a violent reaction from relatives and friends of the deceased, leading to heightened tension at the mortuary on Friday.
Trouble reportedly started when family members arrived at the facility to collect the body for burial and allegedly discovered that some vital organs were missing.
The development immediately raised suspicion and anger among the relatives, who accused a mortuary attendant of harvesting organs from the corpse.
An eyewitness, Osaro Ivie, described the scene as chaotic, noting that tempers flared as accusations of ritual practices were levelled against the attendant.
“The relatives claimed that the chest cavity of the deceased had been emptied and stuffed with nylon,” Ivie said.
According to him, the situation nearly degenerated into mob violence, as the angry crowd threatened to lynch the suspect and set the mortuary on fire before police operatives arrived to restore calm.
Confirming the incident on Sunday, the Edo State Police Command said it received a distress call that a mob was on the verge of attacking a suspect at the mortuary.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Eno Ikoedem, said the Divisional Police Officer of the Ugbekun Division was immediately mobilised to the scene.
“The Command received a distress call that someone at Akugbe Mortuary was about to be lynched, and the Divisional Police Officer, Ugbekun Division, was immediately mobilised to rescue a mortuary attendant alleged to have harvested organs of a corpse,” Ikoedem said.
She explained that the suspect was rescued from the crowd and taken into custody. According to her, the attendant is currently being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), where investigations are ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the allegation.
Ikoedem assured members of the public that a thorough investigation would be conducted, urging residents to remain calm and allow due process to take its course.