Calabar Teaching Hospital plans mass burial for over 50 unclaimed corpses

The management of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, UCTH, has announced plans to give a mass burial to over 50 abandoned corpses, some of which have stayed in its morgue for more than a decade, Daily Post reports.

Chairman of the Special Task Force on the Evacuation of Abandoned and Unclaimed Corpses, Dr David Ushie, said the burial would hold on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, after a three-week grace period. He said efforts to locate relatives had failed.

“The October 21 deadline remains firm. The hospital would not issue another notice before carrying out the mass burial”, he stressed.

Speaking for the Chief Medical Director, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, Dr Stephen Ogbudu attributed the rise in unclaimed bodies to the high cost of burial ceremonies and cultural practices that place heavy financial burdens on families. He said the directive covers bodies kept beyond the statutory 90-day period.

Ogbudu added that the exercise would ease pressure on the mortuary, improve sanitation and create a better environment for clinical services.