Police nab mortuary attendant over organ harvesting in Edo state

The Edo State Police Command has arrested a mortuary attendant in the Upper Sakponba area of Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state following allegations of missing vital organs from a corpse kept at Akugbe Mortuary.

Penpushing reports that the Command Public Relations Officer Eno Ikoedem, explained that the command received a distress call that a mob was on the verge of attacking a suspect at the mortuary.

“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’, she said.

Penpushing further reports Ikoedem explained that the suspect was rescued from the crowd and subsequently taken into custody, adding that the suspect was currently being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).

The police spokesperson stated that investigations were ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the allegation, assuring the public that a thorough investigation would be conducted, urging residents to remain calm and allow due process to take its course.

Penpushing also reports that sources said the incident, triggered a violent reaction from relatives of the deceased, which escalated when angry family members and friends accused the mortuary attendant of harvesting organs from the body.

The relatives of the deceased were said to have raised the alarm when they arrived at the mortuary on Friday to collect the body for burial and allegedly discovered that some vital organs were missing.

Penpushing reports that an eyewitness, Osaro Ivie, described the scene as chaotic, adding that tempers flared after family members accused the attendant of engaging in ritual practices, claiming that the chest cavity of the deceased had been emptied and stuffed with nylon,

Meanwhile, the eyewitness stated that the deceased relatives threatened to lynch the attendant and set the facility ablaze before police operatives intervened to restore calm.

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