•Mortician flees as husband discovers empty cold room
•Police allegedly demand N200,000 from grieving family to investigate
•Victim suspects body was sold for “business” purposes
What was meant to be a period of final rites and solemn transition has turned into a nightmare for Mr. Chijoku Ihunwo, a 56-year-old indigene of Rivers State. Mr. Ihunwo has raised an alarm over the mysterious disappearance of his wife’s remains from the Pamax Hospital Mortuary in Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area.
The deceased, who passed away on May 6, 2025, at the age of 50, was deposited at the facility on the same day pending burial arrangements. However, just weeks before the scheduled interment on December 13, the family discovered that the body had vanished.
A Narrow Escape and a Missing Body
Narrating his ordeal, a distraught Ihunwo explained that his children had been making installment payments for the mortuary services and had seen the body as recently as August. Suspicion arose in October when staff claimed they were “treating” the body and prevented the children from seeing it.
The situation reached a breaking point in November when the family went to settle the final bill.
“I gave the owner of the facility my tally and told her to bring out the body,” Ihunwo recounted. “She went inside with the mortician. Not up to three minutes later, the mortician ran out through the back door, scaled the fence, and disappeared. He hasn’t been seen since.”
Allegations of Police Extortion
The grieving widower expressed deep bitterness over the handling of the case by the Rivers State Police Command. Following the initial arrest of the mortuary owner, the case was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).
“I am the victim whose wife’s body is missing, yet the police are asking me for N200,000. I told them I don’t have a naira to give,” he said. He further alleged that the police had released the owner of the mortuary and suggested he should only pursue the fleeing mortician.
“They told me that even if the mortician is caught and taken to court, the maximum sentence is two years. It feels like they have been compromised. They told me they had ‘removed the woman’ (the owner) from the matter. How can the owner of a facility where a human body vanished be absolved of responsibility?”
Suspicions of “Body Merchandising”
With the mortician in hiding and the facility management failing to provide answers, Ihunwo suspects foul play.
“When the mortician ran away, I knew something was wrong. I suspect they used my wife’s body for business. I suspect they sold her,” he lamented.
The incident has stalled the burial plans, leaving the family in a state of perpetual mourning. Mr. Ihunwo, a father of four who works for a local firm, noted that while he wants to seek legal redress, the high cost of litigation and the slow pace of the Nigerian judicial system have left him feeling helpless.
Appeal to Rivers State Government
Drawing parallels to a similar incident in Imo State where the government shut down a facility involved in the sale of human parts, Ihunwo called on Governor Siminalayi Fubara to intervene.
“I want the Rivers State Government to know my plight. I am a common man with no one to help me. A full human being went missing in a registered mortuary, and yet the facility is still operating as if nothing happened. I need my wife’s corpse so my children and I can find peace.”
As of the time of filing this report, the management of Pamax Hospital Mortuary has not released an official statement, and the whereabouts of the fleeing mortician remains unknown. The Rivers State Police Command has yet to comment on the allegations of extortion at the State CID.
Culled from PUNCH
