Fifty-six-year-old indigene of Rivers State, Mr Chijoku Ihunwo, shares his pain and frustration with CHUKWUDI AKASIKE over the disappearance of his wife’s corpse from a mortuary a few weeks after depositing it there
When did your wife die?
She died on the 6th of May 2025.
When did you take her remains to the mortuary?
I took her body to the mortuary on that same day.It was deposited in Pamax Hospital Mortuary. It is located in Omagwa in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
How much did you pay as a deposit to those managing the place?
When we took my wife’s remains to the place, the secretary was not around. They called the owner of the mortuary. So, it was the owner of the mortuary who registered me. They told me that embalming was N70,000, but I paid N50,000 that day.
What happened thereafter?
My wife and I were very close while she was alive. So, each time I went to the mortuary, my relatives noticed that I was always crying. I was later told not to go to the mortuary again. I started sending my children to the place.
On the 6th of June or thereabout, I made another payment of N25,000. I didn’t have enough money for the burial. That was why I was paying the mortuary cost in instalments. So, my children had been visiting the mortuary every month.
I remember that when they went there in August, they saw my wife’s corpse. In September, they (my children) did not go there. On October 8, 2025, my children went to the mortuary again to check the condition of the body. They were told that they were treating her body.
So, when they (my children) called to tell me the situation, I told them that I did not know how those working in the mortuary preserved corpses because I never worked there before. On that day, they made another payment of N30,000.
What date was your wife supposed to be buried?
My wife was to be buried on December 13, 2025. We fixed the date in November. After fixing the burial date, I told my children and other relatives to go to the mortuary to calculate how much we would pay as balance.
When they got to the mortuary, they called me to say that my wife’s corpse was nowhere to be found. I was shocked, but I asked them if they were joking. They said they were not joking. My children entered the mortuary again and checked; they called me again to say that they did not see my wife’s body.
I told them that I would come down to look for it. I took permission from my office and went to the mortuary. Immediately I got there, I met the owner of the facility. I said, ‘Madam, I handed over my wife’s body to you for preservation pending when she would be buried, but we cannot find her body.’
She told me to give her my tally. I gave her the tally, and she said my wife must be inside the mortuary. Yes, that was what she told me. I told her to go and bring out the body. She, alongside the mortician, went into the mortuary.
It wasn’t up to three minutes after they entered that the mortician ran out through the back door, scaled the fence, and disappeared.
What about the owner of the facility?
She later came out and asked for the whereabouts of the mortician. We told her that he ran away through the back door. She called the mortician on the phone, but he did not respond. I told myself that this was becoming too much, and I immediately went to report the matter at the Omagwa Police Station.
How did the police respond to the matter?
They came to the mortuary after I made the report and arrested the woman (the owner of the facility). After that day, precisely on the 27th of November 2025, the police invited us and stated that the matter would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department. They said they could not handle the matter.
Your house is in Emohua; why did you take your wife’s corpse to a mortuary in Omagwa in another council area, which is a little far from Emohua LGA?
I’m from Ibaa in Emohua LGA, but I work at Trans-Amadi in Port Harcourt. I built my house in Igwurita in Ikwerre Local Government Area. So, Pamax Hospital Mortuary in Omagwa is close to my house in Igwurita.
Were you given any receipt after paying and depositing the body in the mortuary?
Yes, all the receipts given to me after the payments are with me. But I thought that when the matter was taken to the state CID, it would be resolved there.
What happened at the state CID?
They were asking me to bring money, which they would use to find the corpse. But I told them that I don’t have money. When they insisted, I told them to go and ask the woman (owner of the mortuary) to give them money.
I didn’t even know when they released the woman from the state CID. Surprisingly, last Friday, when they saw my video online, they (some officers at the state CID) called me. When I got there, what the IPO and his boss told me surprised me.
What did they tell you?
They told me that I should take the mortician to court. But I said I did not arrest the mortician; the person arrested was the owner of the mortuary where I deposited my wife’s body. I told them I never had any problem with the mortician; my problem is with the owner of the mortuary.
The police also told me that if I take the mortician to court, the maximum sentence he would get is two years’ imprisonment. Inspector Isaac and his boss told me that I would not be able to do anything about it, and that they had investigated and had ‘removed the woman from the matter’. I began to wonder if they collected money from the woman who owns the mortuary.
How much did the police demand from you?
They told me to bring N200,000. I was surprised that the police were asking me, the victim whose wife’s body went missing inside the mortuary, to bring the sum of N200,000. I told them that I didn’t have any money and that I was not going to give them one naira.
You said your wife was supposed to be buried on December 13, 2025. What did you tell those who were supposed to attend the burial on the date?
What I did was to inform my in-laws, my community, and my family. They all asked me if the owner of the mortuary had been arrested, and I told them, ‘Yes’. So, the matter is still at the state CID.
Surprisingly, the owner of the mortuary has not called me to at least ask how the matter can be resolved. So, I suspect that she bribed the police, but I am not sure.
So, what could have happened to your wife’s body?
When the mortician ran away, I suspected that something was wrong. I suspected that they might have used my wife’s body for business. I suspected that maybe the mortician and the owner of the mortuary sold my wife’s body.
You suspect the corpse was sold, but for what purpose?
I don’t know. I cannot tell. What I need is my wife’s corpse so that we can bury her.
How are members of your family coping with the matter?
They are not happy. We planned to organise a protest this Saturday (today) over the ugly incident, but because the farming season is expected to start that same day, the protest will no longer hold. That is why we have postponed it.
What other steps are you taking?
Yes, we intend to go spiritual over the matter. But those who stole my wife’s corpse know where they took it to.
Will you at any point consider going to court over the case?
Assuming I have money, I would have taken the matter to court. But the matter has remained the way it is because I don’t have money. Again, the fact that court matters are prolonged is discouraging. You would be told to come tomorrow, come next week, come next month, and come next year.
That is why I have not taken the matter to court. The owner of the mortuary should provide my wife’s corpse so that I can bury her.
How many children do you have?
I have four children.
Do you want the Rivers State Government to intervene in this matter?
Yes. If you remember what happened in Imo State, precisely in Ngor Okpalla LGA, the state government seized the man’s mortuary and even his house because of the sale of human parts in the mortuary. But in my case, a full human being went missing in the mortuary.
That is why I am blaming the police. A corpse went missing in the mortuary, but up till today, the body is nowhere to be found, and the mortuary still exists.
So, what is your message to the Nigeria Police on this matter?
They should sit up and do their work. I think the woman must have paid the police; I think so. If the woman has not paid them, they should not have told me that if I take them to court, it is only two years they will serve. That was what the police told me. That was why I walked out of their office on Friday last week.
But please, if there is any way you can make the state government aware of this matter, I will be happy. I am saying this because I don’t have anybody to help me in this matter. I work in a Chinese company.
I have worked there for many years, but it was only my wife who helped me train the children while she was alive. Three of my children are graduates. The last one is an undergraduate. The entire burden now is on me.
How old are you?
I am 56 years old.
How old was your wife?
She was 50 years old.
