Ebonyi bans embalment, keeping of corpses in homes

Ebonyi State Gov­ernment yesterday banned embalm­ing and keeping corpses in homes.

The government said the practice was not ac­ceptable, describing it as criminal, unhealthy and barbaric.

The ban followed dis­covery that some persons in some communities in the State had been em­balming and keeping corpses in their houses for long time preparatory to burial.

Addressing newsmen in his office yesterday, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Daniel Um­ezuruike said the govern­ment will not hesitate to sanction anyone found in the act.

He noted that embalm­ing and keeping corpses in the home can lead to an epidemic and called on those practicing the act to desist from it.

“Any mortician that in­dulges in this is a disgrace to his profession and will be arrested and prosecut­ed. This is because a lot of diseases can be transmit­ted through that means. There is also a form of putrefaction taking place and building up of micro-organism when you do this. The agent (chemical) used in this embalment is not healthy, it causes aller­gy and reactions of vari­ous levels to human be­ings. So, it is unacceptable.

“Anybody you see do­ing that, report the per­son to the police and to us because it is the duty of the police to ensure that a dead person should be kept in a right place,” he said.

Source – The Authority