On Thursday, the Kwara State Government closed Omosebi Mortuary Services, an unauthorized private mortuary situated in the Gaa Akanbi neighborhood of the Ilorin South Local Government Area.
The hospital lacked a facility to provide mortuary services and was not registered with the government, according to a statement made by Gbenga Falade, press secretary for the Ministry of Health.
“The Ministry of Health has closed down the mortuary during an unscheduled visit to a building along Gaa Akanbi area being used as mortuary, in a decisive move to ensure compliance with standards of care for the good people of Kwara State whether alive or dead,” the statement said.
The ministry’s top official, Commissioner for Health Dr. Amina El-Imam, stated that “the facility, often referred to as ‘Omosebi,’ is unknown to the Ministry of Health as a registered mortuary service provider.”
El-Imam said, “It is important to preserve the dignity of our dead ones and ensure that infectious diseases do not reach the living through poor management of their remains,” in a conversation with the journalists who had accompanied the team shortly after he had issued the order to close the facility. The facility does not adhere to the necessary standards.
“We acted quickly after learning of reports of illicit activity involving the handling of Kwara State citizens’ remains.
It is not a licensed mortuary, as we personally confirmed when we visited. They are not authorized or entitled to handle the remains of our citizens.
We called them in for a discussion and promptly locked down the property. Unfortunately, they seemed to have come and removed the government seal, which was against the law, while we were still figuring out how to move forward.
According to the information we have, they have started operating illegally again. Today, our goal is to put into practice broad, multidimensional strategies to make sure that this kind of illegality doesn’t continue—not just in this facility, but throughout the entire state.
The administration, according to El-Imam, would not support “quackery or undignified handling of people’s remains.”
She added that anything that would endanger the state’s citizens’ health would not be accepted by the government.
The commissioner went on to say that the Ministry of Justice and the Nigerian police were working together to determine the best course of action.
She said that the state government would act quickly and make sure that the entire force of the law is applied in this case.
The Kwara State Government, she emphasized, will not tolerate such impunity or such flagrant disrespect for the rule of law.
The hospital’s owners should submit a report to the ministry outlining the services and amenities offered by the hospital management, according to Dr. Musiliu Odunaiya, Director of Medical Services and Training for the ministry.
According to Odunaiya, “the morgue handlers must report to the State Ministry of Health Headquarters, Fate area, Ilorin to resolve pertinent issues and ensure the facility is safe for public use.”
