The Nigerian Navy Reference Hospital (NNRH), Ojo, Lagos, has issued an urgent public notice calling on families to come forward and claim the bodies of deceased relatives deposited in its mortuary between August 2018 and December 2025.
In the notice, the hospital warned that all bodies remaining unclaimed after a two-week ultimatum would be subjected to a mass burial.
Relatives and next of kin have been directed to present valid means of identification and relevant documentation to enable the release of the bodies within the stipulated period.
According to the hospital management, failure to comply with the directive would leave the institution with no alternative but to collaborate with appropriate government authorities to conduct a mass burial of the unclaimed bodies, without further notice or recourse to affected families.
The development highlights a growing challenge faced by hospitals across the country, as mortuaries continue to experience severe congestion due to unclaimed bodies. The situation is often linked to factors such as poverty, absence of proper identification, unresolved family disputes and prolonged police investigations.
Health authorities have repeatedly warned that the trend poses public health and operational concerns, prompting hospitals to take drastic measures to manage limited mortuary space.