Bereaved family members are lamenting shoddy interment of their deceased loved ones in some Southwest states, following the current lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, the ban of social events, including burial, and the consequent ultimatum issued by the Lagos State Government for owners of dead bodies to evacuate them as a way of decongesting the mortuaries, KUNLE AKINRINADE and TOBA ADEDEJI report.
Akinwale Akinbode’s discomfort was evident on April 27. He lost his cheerful posture after receiving the news that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had ordered bereaved residents of Lagos State should evacuate the bodies of their loved ones from the congested public morgues or give them up for mass burial.
Akinbode, a media practitioner, had lost his beloved mother, and the body of the 78-year-old woman was deposited in the morgue at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja while a date was being mooted to bury her with pomp and ceremony.
Barely two weeks after the date for the final burial for his mother was picked, Lagos, Ogun and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja was locked down on the orders of the Federal Government to curtail the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The lockdown had resulted in the congestion of public and private morgues in the affected states, while the relatives of deceased persons lamented the rising cost of keeping the bodies. The plight of bereaved relatives was captured in a story, ’Covid19: Pressure mounts on morgues’, published in The Nation edition of Saturday April 25, 2020.
A day after the story was published, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, gave the nod for relatives of deceased persons deposited in public morgues in the state to pick the bodies for immediate burial or risk mass burial.
Akinbode, however, lamented the shoddy burial he gave his mother two days ago and the losses he suffered from the botched lavish burial programme. He said that he and his siblings had put a lot into making the burial grand in their hometown in Ondo State, but had to contend with parting with money already spent on logistics, music and aso ebi (ceremonial uniform).
He said: “I have spent a lot on keeping her body in the morgue at LASUTH (Lagos State University Teaching Hospital). We coughed out the sum of N108,000 for keeping the body there since February.
“Apart from that, we had spent so much on logistics, including advanced payment to two top caterers, professional undertakers and pallbearers, a juju musician and aso ebi, among others.
“We had picked May 29 for a lavish burial, with various activities preceding the date. Unfortunately, we had to bury her without any fanfare on my landed property somewhere in Ewekoro Local Government Area, Ogun State, due to the restrictions placed on movements to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The attendees, including myself and my four siblings, were not more than 12.
“The lesson I have learnt from the development is that throwing a lavish party to celebrate the burial of a loved one is not worth it after all. If we could bury my mother without any noise or frivolities, it means that people can save the money they expend on burials on some other pressing needs in their lives.’’
Yemisi Adelodun, who a few weeks ago expressed regrets for the standoff she had with elderly family members who had suggested immediate burial of her grandmother after she passed on early in March this year, finally bowed to the elderly persons’ opinion with the burial of the 92-year-old woman in an austere ceremony penultimate Friday. The brief ceremony, which took place at a village in the Ifo area of Ogun State, was witnessed by 12 family members and some clergymen.
“We had to bury her remains when the lockdown was relaxed because the fees being paid for keeping her body in the public morgue at a state general hospital were choking me, particularly after family members parted ways with me over my disagreement with their insistence that the woman be interred immediately according to her wish before she died.
“I was forced to eat my vomit and apologise to the family when the reality dawned on me that I might have to pay more money than I had envisaged to keep her body in the morgue against the backdrop of the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“My grandmother’s burial was too ordinary, considering the pains she endured to nurture me after I lost my father who was her only son. I am still not happy that I could not give her a befitting burial in spite of all the money I had spent preparing for the event.
“We quickly arranged for the burial by begging our family head to persuade some clergymen to officiate at the interment. The event did not last more than 30 minutes and with strict observance of social distancing at the venue.
“Regrettably, the money already spent on aso ebi, food and sundry items cannot be totally recovered from the service providers.’’
For the Babarindes, whose patriarch, Evangelist Pius Babarinde, died at the age of 86, the lockdown has hampered their dream of a talk-of-the-town party to celebrate the exit of their father.
According to Bola Babarinde, unlike four years ago when a society party was held for their father’s 82nd birthday, the solemnity of his burial rubbished all the plans they had made to honour his transition.
He said that his two siblings who were based in the United States of America could not come to Nigeria for the burial when a decision was taken to bury their father amid the lockdown after Governor Sanwo-Olu’s directive on evacuation of bodies from over bloated morgues in the state.
He said: “We lost our father on January 17 this year and we had planned to bury him amid pomp and circumstance by the last week of May. Unlike four years ago when all of us (children) were in the country to celebrate our father, I was the only one who arranged his burial after securing the nod of my siblings following the lockdown over coronavirus.
“There was no drumming or singing. It was a noiseless ceremony held in our family house in Agege as soon as we collected his body from the morgue in Ikeja. The ceremony lasted 45 minutes, but it was zoomed via social media for my other siblings in the US, family and friends to watch and take part in.
“The programme printed for his obsequies had to be jettisoned while several burial souvenirs already shipped into the country since mid-March are lying waste in my residence now. Man proposes but God disposes. That accounts for the unexpected change in burial plans and his rather haphazard interment.”
Frustrated by the inability to stage his mother’s burial with fanfare, Adebiyi Williams held a quiet funeral for his late mother, Madam Omotola Williams, in Ogbe area of Abeokuta penultimate Wednesday.
Like others, the Lagos-based public relations practitioner, who lost his dear mother on March 2, had deposited the woman’s body in a public morgue at Ijaiye, Abeokuta, Ogun State, while the obsequies released by his family indicated that the deceased woman would to be buried on April 17 in their hometown in Imala area of Abeokuta.
However, the event could not hold because of the lockdown. The burial finally took place on Thursday in what he described as “a discreet event” devoid of elaborate celebrations.
Babarinde said: When our mother died in the early hours of March 2 this year, the family decided it was best to give some weeks for the burial to make room for adequate preparations for her burial. That was the reason we shifted her burial to April 17, not knowing that the COVID-19 pandemic would alter our plans.
“But we managed to get her mother’s body after paying accumulated fees to the management of the morgue and we gave her a burial on Thursday without any elaborate ceremony. In fact, we were not up to 10 at the interment.
“It is sad that our plan to celebrate the exit of our mother in a very big way with frenetic arrangement set in motion was scuttled by the lockdown. May we not see this kind of season or situation again where everything is on lockdown.’’
In Osun State, family members who lost their relatives were left with no choice but to resort to quiet burials with a maximum of 20 people in attendance.
The state government had on March 20 banned all public gatherings in churches, mosques, night clubs and sports arenas among others.
Governor Adegboyega Oyetola subsequently announced the total lockdown of the state on March 29, 2020 in a statement released by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ismail Omipidan.
The governor noted that the lockdown order would be in force for two weeks, effective from midnight on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. However, the lockdown was extended by another 17 days. The governor in a state broadcast ended the lockdown but banned public gatherings and enforced the use of face mask.
It was gathered that since the lockdown was relaxed in the state, bereaved relatives have been withdrawing the bodies of their loved ones from the morgues across the state for burial.
A cross section of the bereaved families told The Nation that the restriction order had hampered their plans to give their loved ones befitting burial.
One of them is the Osun State Deputy Governor, Mr. Benedict Alabi, who lost his elder brother, Ambrose Alabi, on March 8. The deputy governor’s brother, who died at the age of 69 after a brief illness, was haphazardly buried on Tuesday amidst strict observance of the social distancing rule in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area of the state.
About 17 family members, including the deputy governor and two priests, attended a mass held at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Ikire, before the remains of the deceased were finally interred at the family’s burial ground in the ancient town. The event lasted just 15 minutes.
Also, a relative of a deceased, Mr. Ayo Oluwole explained how his beloved mother was hurriedly buried Wednesday May 6 in Iree, Boripe Local Government area.
Oluwole said: “My mother died at the age of 75 on the 1st of April, but we are unable to bury her due to the restriction order in the state. But we have laid her to eternal rest on Wednesday.
“We had embalmed her in a morgue in the State Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo, but we took her body from the morgue and buried her in our hometown, Iree, after a brief church service held in a church in Osogbo.
“We were not more than 15 people at the cemetery, including the presiding pastor. This is unusual in Yoruba land. Our mother is survived by children and grandchildren and that calls for celebration. But the restriction order has snatched away the fanfare of the burial. We did not even share water at her burial. It is very sad.”
A woman, Aderonke Aina, expressed happiness that she was able to bury her father after six weeks of keeping his body in the morgue.
She said: “I am happy that we are able to bury my daddy after six weeks of keeping his body in the morgue. We have been paying bills for keeping his body in the morgue and the huge bill became worrisome at a point. The easing of lockdown has made it possible to bury him.
“The church service for my father was attended by only 20 people. Others who came for the mass stayed outside. The graveside burial rites were witnessed by the children and just a few family members. Most family members were not informed as part of the crowd control measure.”
A morgue attendant in Osogbo, who spoke in confidence, said there had been massive withdrawal of bodies since May 5.
“Many people have been coming to withdraw the bodies of their deceased loved ones for burial. I think the easing of the lockdown has given them the chance to bury their deceased relatives after four weeks of lockdown in the state,” the attendant said.
Leave a Reply