The Ogun State Government has sealed off an illegal morgue facility at No. 6, Church Street, Orudu Road, Gbogbolowo Bus Stop, in Ifo Local Government Area, as its activities posed serious health hazard to the community and its environs.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Daisi Odeniyi, while sealing off the morgue, alongside security operatives said the step was to deter other members of the public from engaging in such act to desist from such illegality and follow due process by registering private hospitals, maternity homes, laboratory centres and other health facilities with the Ministry of Health.
Odeniyi said three corpses were evacuated from the morgue, adding that the structure housing the corpses did not have building plan approval and would be served demolition notice by the relevant agency.
Represented by Dr. Solomon Sokunbi, Odeniyi said the three bodies recovered from the morgue would be deposited to the state-owned mortuary, explaining that the corpses would be released to their owners, a after proper identification and documentation.
According to him, “Ogun State has zero tolerance to quackery and would not condone the operation of any illegal health facility in and around the state, and anyone caught engaging in such illegality would be arrested and prosecuted.”
The Area Co-ordinator of the Community, Mr. Funso Williams, confirmed that the morgue had been sealed thrice by the officials of the Ministry of Health, adding that the operator of the facility, Mr. Martins Ikharo, usually break government seal on the facility.
He, therefore, called on the government to find a lasting solution to the problem, saying that such an illegal facility could cause serious health hazard in the community as there were schools, churches, hotels and buildings around the morgue.
Also speaking, Senior Pastor, Celestial Church of Christ, Oluwaseyi Parish, Adiyan, Mr. Falola Olabode, said the morgue had a negative effect on socio-economic activities of the community, adding that chemicals used in preserving the dead bodies were deleterious to the health of the people.
