Moshood Adebayo, Lagos
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has announced that the state might have to resort to mass burials as a way to congest crowded mortuaries in the state.
The governor, lamenting the congestion of mortuaries as a result of the lockdown restriction, however, explained that the deaths were not those of victims of the pandemic.
He further announced that funeral rites are on the list of activities exempted from the lockdown restriction in the state, once they comply with health guidelines.
Sanwo-Olu, who spoke while giving an update on the COVID 19 pandemic in the state, confirmed that 18 deaths have been recorded so far as a result of the contagious disease in the state.
Aside from the lockdown which has prevented people from burying their loved ones, he also linked the mortuary congestion to the recent Lenten period, during which many Christian bodies forbid burying their loved ones.
“Because of this inability to hold funerals occasioned by the restriction of movement, our mortuaries in Lagos … we are now getting to the peak. And, there is a need for us to have a decongestion. If we are not able to see decongestion of the mortuaries across the state within the next two weeks, Lagos State Government might be compelled to seek to have mass burials and we do not want to force this on anyone and that is why we are asking for cooperation,” the governor said.
