Police in Edo State have arrested a mortuary attendant at Akugbe Mortuary in the Upper Sakponba area of Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area over allegations that vital organs were missing from a corpse deposited at the facility. The arrest followed complaints by relatives of the deceased who reportedly discovered the anomaly while preparing to collect the body for burial.
An eyewitness, Osaro Ivie, said the situation turned chaotic as family members accused the attendant of harvesting organs from the corpse. “The relatives claimed that the chest cavity of the deceased had been emptied and stuffed with nylon,” Ivie said. He added that an angry mob threatened to lynch the suspect and burn the mortuary before police intervened.
Confirming the incident, the Edo State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Eno Ikoedem, said officers rescued the attendant following a distress call. “The command received a distress call that someone at Akugbe Mortuary was about to be lynched,” she said. The suspect is being detained at the SCID, while investigations continue.