| credits: AFP
There are indications that most states of the federation are not complying with the Federal Government’s ban on the inter-state movement of corpses thus risking the spread of the deadly Ebola virus.
Investigation by Saturday PUNCHrevealed that most states had yet to put measures in place to control indiscriminate movement of corpses.
The Federal Government, through the National Council on Health, had banned inter-state movement of corpses as part of the measures aimed at preventing the spread of the deadly Ebola virus imported to Nigeria by a Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer.
Despite the ban, families of deceased persons and undertakers have also continued to defy the order.
Saturday PUNCH found that corpses were being moved from Lagos State to other destinations without getting the mandatory government waivers.
The NCH had said only dead bodies with waivers granted by the Federal Ministry of Health would be transported within and into Nigeria, adding that such corpses must be conveyed only in ambulances.
The NCH, which is the highest policy making body in the health sector, had also advised state governments to enact laws for the effective compliance with the ban.
The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, had said, “The corpses of all persons confirmed to have died of EVD must be buried according to WHO standard protocol.
“Council further directed that the transport of corpses into Nigeria as well as inter-state transport should be banned until further notice except with approved waivers that may be issued by the Federal Ministry of Health.”
Chukwu added that corpses from other countries must have waivers from the FMH and must be carried in only ambulances.
In his advice to the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the National Road Transport Owners, Chukwu had said, “From today, don’t allow any sick person to enter your vehicles again except he or she produces a medical report which should contain the nature of the ailment and the fact that other passengers will not be infected. Only the dead and the sick can transmit the (Ebola) disease.
“Don’t carry any corpse unless you have the waiver which is obtainable only from the Federal Ministry of Health, duly signed by the Minister. So you must demand to see a waiver from anybody who may ask you to carry a dead person.
“Find out from the ministry, the authenticity of the waiver in case you are in doubt. Without a waiver, we will not allow you to enter Nigeria and your vehicle will be impounded because Ebola disease is transmitted mainly by someone who died of the virus and infected persons.”
In spite of this, families have continued to move their dead without getting the necessary waivers from the government.
A Lagos State resident who pleaded anonymity because of fear of being punished, during the week transported the body of his late mother who died in Lagos to his home state with a private car without getting any waiver.
One of our correspondents, who saw the vehicle when he was driving beside the vehicle in a heavy traffic on the Lagos Ibadan Expressway, found out that the body was packaged in a sitting position to avoid attempt by the police to stop the movement.
Though the woman was said to have died at home, the resident told our correspondent that he had to transport the body for burial according to Islamic injunction and getting a waiver would be difficult and time consuming, especially as the deceased did not die of Ebola virus.
He added that he could not afford N30,000 to get waiver from the government.
Similarly, a family, who asked not to be named because of fear of possible arrest, had last week moved the body of their son who died of cancer to his ancestral home in Imo State without getting any waiver from the government.
The family source, who spoke with one of our correspondents on the telephone, confirmed that the ambulance bearing the corpse was accompanied by a police patrol team that was paid N100, 000.
The source said, “It was difficult getting the police to lead the ambulance to Imo State because they were scared of the Ebola virus. Even when we showed them a medical report stating the cause of the death, they still declined. But we later got another team which initially demanded N150,000, but we settled for 100,000. We have since deposited the body in a morgue in Imo State. We did not get any waiver.”
Also, one of our correspondents saw a corpse- bearing ambulance opposite the Federal Road Safety Corps office in Ojodu area of Lagos State at about 11.30pm on Thursday. Relatives of the deceased were seen withdrawing money from the ATM at a nearest bank before embarking on a journey apparently meant to transport the corpse outside Lagos for burial.
One of the two young men, who accompanied the body, reluctantly responded to one of our correspondents’ inquiry, saying the deceased did not die of Ebola and the family did not have time for any waiver from the government.
Similarly, another respondent who lost his father last Saturday in Lagos said he moved the corpse to Enugu State the following Sunday without any special waiver. He, however, noted that the family had a medical report (death certificate) on the deceased.
An undertaker, who pleaded for anonymity, confirmed to Saturday PUNCH that the ban on inter-state movement of corpse had not diterred undertakers from doing their business.
He said, “We have moved two corpses to Imo and Ogun states since the ban on movement of corpses without any waiver and there was no problem. The families of the deceased did not get any waiver. They just wanted to move their dead ones for burial. We are going to move two other corpses to Gbongan in Osun State and Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State next week.
“Though we are aware of the ban on inter-state movement of corpses, but I am not sure it is being implemented. Besides, it will be difficult for the government to bar people from moving their dead ones.”
Also, a visit to Igbosere area of Lagos State where many undertakers have branches of their offices confirmed that the ban on inter-state movement of corpses was not being implemented.
A worker with MIC Funeral Services, who declined to give his name, said the company could transport corpse anytime of the day without the waiver.
According to him, the ban on inter-state transportation of corpse does not affect the activities of the company.
At Omega Funeral Home, customers would only need to provide genuine death certificates of their dead before they can get the service of the company.
Asked if the customers would need to apply for waiver before they could transport the corpse of their dead, a young man working with the company described it as unnecessary.
But Ebony Funeral Services would not engage in inter-state transportation of corpse unless the family of the dead provides death certificate and pay N30, 000 to get waiver from the government.
One of the company’s workers, who simply gave his name as John, said the company could still transport corpse, but the family of the dead would need to pay N30, 000 to get the waiver from Abuja, in addition to the death certificate.
John, however, said that it would take three working days to process the waiver.
Though Chukwu could not comment on this development, a senior official in the ministry who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to journalists, said the minister had nothing to do with inter-state transfer of corpses.
He said the Federal Government, through the minister, had so far granted two waivers to those who applied to bring in the corpses of their deceased families to Nigeria from abroad, adding that the approval was granted after it was ascertained that they did not die of Ebola virus.
The source said, “The National Council on Health at the end of its meeting in Abuja came out with the resolution banning importation and inter-state transfer of corpses in the country. The Federal Government is enforcing that of the ones being brought to Nigeria. The state governors and their commissioners for health had been directed to enforce the inter-state movements.
“As of now, the minister had only signed two waivers and those ones did not die of Ebola. Otherwise they would have been cremated in the countries where they died.”
The Ondo State Government said it had started discussing with religious leaders on ways to curtail the movement of corpses as a step towards checking the spread of the virus.
Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju, told one of our correspondents that efforts were being made to determine the cause of death by making sure that the corpses had death certificates.
He said, “We have embarked on aggressive sensitisation of the clergy to ensure that such corpses have death certificates that will tell us the cause of death.”
He said his ministry had also gone on campaigns using the radio and television, as well as the print media to sensitise the public on the policies regarding the movement of corpses.
In Ogun State, the movement of corpses from Lagos or from other countries to the state is currently being monitored by the Federal Government’s agency.
The Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, said the police were in charge of checking vehicles conveying corpses from other states into the state.
He said, “We cannot put health officials as coffin inspectors on the roads to stop every vehicle bearing coffin. It is the duty of the police to check such vehicle and demand for the death certificate of such corpse in the coffin to know the cause of death.”
Soyinka said if the corpse was being brought through the border, the federal agencies like the port health services officials, Nigeria Immigration Services and Nigeria Customs Service would demand for the necessary documents on the cause of death.
He said, “The Federal Government agencies at the border post will definitely demand necessary details and papers before allowing any corpse into the state from the neighbouring countries because we don’t want any corpse of unknown death.”
The Special Adviser on Health to Osun State Governor, Dr. Rafiu Isamotu, also said that the state government was not aware that corpses were being moved into the state in violation of the Federal Government’s directive to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus.
Isamotu said this in an interview with our correspondent in Osogbo on Thursday
He said that the state government had met with security agents and briefed them on the need to ensure strict compliance with the Federal Government’s directive to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus to the state.
Isamotu said, “I have not been briefed that some people are moving their dead relatives into Osun State. I have not seen any corpse moved into the state also.
“We are aware of the Federal Government’s directive on movement of corpses which is in order to ensure that the Ebola virus does not spread all over the country. We met with security chiefs whose agencies are saddled with the responsibilities of enforcing the directive.”
When contacted, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said he had approved the release of some corpses, but denied any knowledge of corpses being smuggled out of the state.
He said, “Those I am aware of are not smuggling. I have approved the release of some corpses based on evidence. Those ones are not smuggling and they have been cross-checked; these are people who died normally.”
However, when told about some of the methods being employed by people to smuggle corpses out of Lagos, Idris expressed surprise, saying that he was not aware that corpses were being taken out of the state without the proper certification.
He said, “Really, I am not aware of that. Do you have evidence of this? We will look into that. I will tell the people in charge so that they can look into that. We are not aware that corpses are being smuggled out of the state. If we can get any lead, we will appreciate it so that we can stop it.”
Also in a phone conversation with the Director, Disease Control at the Lagos Ministry of Health, Dr. Jemilade Longe, he said the processing for inter-state transportation of corpses takes less than 72 hours, adding that eight corpses had so far been released for inter-state transportation by the ministry.
He said, “We have made an announcement that people should write officially to the Ministry of Health, attaching the deceased’s death certificate. We will personally investigate the authenticity of the death certificate and it is only after that that I can make recommendation to the commissioner to sign that the corpse should be granted easy passage to its destination. Some have written to us and we have yet to confirm the death certificates.
“The process is usually less than 48 hours and some could be completed within the same day. The turn-around time is usually 72 hours maximum.
We have issued about eight so far for inter-state transportation. For the process, the person should write officially to the state Commissioner for Health, stating the age of the deceased, the relationship, the cause of death, and then attach the death certificate, issued by a hospital.
“In the letter, the person should also indicate from what point they are moving the corpse from and also state the destination. If the body is in the mortuary, they should let us know which mortuary it is.
“We will also try to confirm from the State Health Facilities Accreditation and Monitoring Agency to see if the facility (hospital that issued the death certificate) is registered. It doesn’t stop us from processing the request, but it’s for us to alert HEFAMA so that their officials can visit the place. If in doubt, we visit the hospital and interview the doctor who handled the whole thing.”
Longe, however, said that the transportation of corpses from outside the country was not being handled by the ministry but by the Emergency Operation Centre, whose constitution includes the World Health Organisation and other bodies.
He said, “For some bodies that are supposed to come back from outside the country, we refer them to the EOC, which has WHO, the Federal Ministry of Health, United Nations Children’s Fund and all of that. It is a larger body, so we refer those ones to that body to make pronouncements.”
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