The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) has given families and individuals with unclaimed corpses in its mortuary until October 21, 2026, to identify and retrieve the remains of their loved ones before a planned mass burial.
The hospital said it had intensified efforts to locate relatives of the deceased, warning that all bodies still unclaimed after the deadline would be evacuated for mass burial without further notice.
Chairman of the Special Task Force on the Evacuation of Abandoned and Unclaimed Corpses, Dr David Ushie, said the decision followed an earlier public announcement notifying residents of the hospital’s plan to clear its mortuary of bodies abandoned for extended periods.
Ushie explained that the three-week grace period was intended to give relatives and those who deposited the corpses a final opportunity to complete the identification and claiming process before the hospital proceeds with the exercise.
He stressed that the October 21 deadline remained firm, adding that the hospital would not issue another notice before carrying out the mass burial.
The Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, had announced the deadline during the inauguration of the task force in Calabar on September 29, 2026.
Ikpeme, who was represented by the Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee in charge of Clinical Services, Dr Stephen Ogbudu, attributed the growing number of unclaimed bodies to the rising cost of burial ceremonies and cultural practices that place significant financial responsibilities on bereaved families and their in-laws.
He noted that the directive covered corpses kept in the mortuary beyond the statutory 90-day period from the date they were deposited, disclosing that some of the remains had been there for more than a decade.
The prolonged storage of the bodies, according to the hospital management, has made it necessary to undertake the evacuation exercise to ease pressure on the mortuary, improve sanitation and create a better environment for clinical services.
The hospital has therefore appealed to members of the public who may have deceased or missing relatives deposited at its mortuary to urgently contact the appropriate authorities, establish their identities and complete the necessary procedures for their release before the deadline.
The Special Task Force is chaired by Dr David Ushie, Head of the Department of Pathology, while Barr. Ewa Iquo Alexander of the hospital’s Legal Department serves as secretary.
Other members are drawn from the hospital’s Surveillance, SERVICOM, Corporate Affairs and Sanitation Departments, with the committee mandated to coordinate the evacuation of abandoned and unclaimed corpses.
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