Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Saturday announced that mortuaries in Lagos State are getting congested, urging owners of corpses to pick them for burial in line with the protocol established in the management of COVID-19 in the country.
Mr Sanwo-Olu stated this while giving an update on the management of the novel coronavirus in the state, saying owners of the corpses have two weeks to claim them or risk mass burial by the government.
The governor stated emphatically that the corpses were not those killed by COVID-19, maintaining that corpses of those that died during Lenten period left unburied as a result of Christian faith coupled with the current lockdown resulted in the congestion at state the mortuaries.
He added that inter-state movements for burials will not be tolerated, saying the state borders had been toughened to restrict those not providing essential services from entering the state.
Hear him: “Still on this matter of essential movement, I would like to speak concerning funerals. One of the outcomes of this lockdown is that many families and households have had to postpone funeral plans for loved ones who have passed away before or during this period.
“As you might know, many Christian denominations do not carry out funerals during the Lenten Season. Funerals are typically kept on hold during this period, and scheduled for the period immediately following the end of Lent.
“Unfortunately, this year, the Covid-19 Lockdown coincided with the end of Lent, which caused many families and households to further suspend or put off funeral plans.
“Because of this inability to hold funerals, occasioned by the restrictions on movement, the mortuaries in Lagos State are now full and in urgent need of decongestion. Let me make it clear at this point that these are not Covid-19 deaths.
“The mortuaries in Lagos are not full because of Covid-19 deaths – the total number of Covid-19 deaths in Lagos as at today is 20; the only reason the mortuaries are full at this time is because funerals are not being held, and have not been held for most of the last two months.”
He appealed to all Lagosians who have the corpses the mortuaries, to schedule funerals, saying burials are on the list of activities exempted from the lockdown restrictions.
