Corpse disappears from Tiko mortuary

The corpse of a woman whose name we got as Catherine Okon Ajobane, was reportedly not found when the family came to collect it on Saturday, September 20, 2014 for funeral service.

This 44-year-old woman, who worked for a local banana plantation company, had died at the Tiko Cottage Hospital on September 10 and her corpse was preserved at that hospital mortuary.

The family then decided to remove the corpse on September 20, but were shocked when they came for it and the mortuary attendant, a certain Watard, instead presented to them the corpse of a very old woman. The family noticed that the bed spread they had used to wrap up their sister was found on the floor which confirmed that her remains must have been removed earlier.

In the midst of the confusion that followed, the woman’s husband, F. Aloga, who works for the CDC, decided to search all the corpses in that mortuary but the search did not yield any fruits, as the corpse of the wife was mysteriously not found.

As the disappearance news spread widely in Tiko town, an irate mob stormed the hospital premises, drawing the attention of the administrative, judicial, municipal, as well as the hospital authorities of the town.

The D.O for Tiko, the Mayor, the State Counsel and the Commissioner of the Public Security Police Station, Superintendent of Police, Nformi Wednje invaded the hospital premises and ordered for another search of all the corpses, to no avail. The mortuary attendant, Watard, then brought out the register of the mortuary and after going through it, it came out clear that there are 20 corpses that have been kept in that Mortuary.

Upon interrogation the mortuary attendant disclosed that since September 10, only two female corpses have left that mortuary. One taken to Kaka in Nkambe, Northwest Region and the other to Penda-Mboko, Mungo Division.

However, the remains of the lady that was taken to Kaka was a renowned worker in the CDC hospital. So she could not have been the one in case the mortuary attendant confused the corpse on the day of the removal September 11. The only possibility that was left was the corpse to Penda Mboko. However the poor handling of the morgue register by Watard could not help matters because there were no contacts in the register.

By the time The Post left the hospital premises, the morgue attendant was carried away by security forces for questioning. Watard was first taken to the Cottage hospital to verify their own registers if any contacts with the family of the Penda-Mboko lady could be possible.

The disappointed family of the late woman left the hospital premises disgruntled. One of the little sons of the late woman had to question the father that since the corpse of his mother could not be found in the mortuary, does that mean that Mama is not dead again?

The question on every lip is whether the mortuary attendant has “transacted the corpse” or it is simple confusion. If it is confusion, why is it that the attendant wanted to force the family to accept the corpse of the old woman? The attendant was tongue tight, that the D.O had to remind him that he was a potential prisoner with the manner in which he handles his register.