Three mortuary attendants narrowly escaped a mob lynching in Abia State after a chilling discovery was made at a local mortuary. The incident occurred at a facility located between Afoukwu and Abayi Okoroato, near the Aba-Ikot Ekpene highway, in the Obingwa council area.
The drama unfolded when a family arrived to retrieve the remains of their loved one for burial. The family requested the body be undressed for observation before leaving the mortuary. Upon undressing the corpse, they made the shocking discovery that the deceased man’s testicle was missing.
Outraged by the discovery, a group of youths from the surrounding communities, who had accompanied the family, began to cause chaos. Eyewitnesses reported that the mortuary attendants tried to flee but were quickly apprehended by the angry mob. The situation turned violent as some youths destroyed property, with many expressing their disgust, claiming that the mortuary had been involved in illegal activities for some time.
One eyewitness said, “It’s an abomination to sever a body part in Igbo land. This is why the mortuary business was thriving—something evil was happening here.”
The incident prompted other families who had used the mortuary to visit and retrieve their loved ones, fearing similar tampering. A man named Iheanyi explained that he had come to relocate his elder brother’s body to another mortuary for safety.
The chaos eventually attracted the attention of the Eastern Ngwa Division police, who arrived on the scene and arrested several mortuary attendants who had been captured by the mob. As of now, the Abia State Police Command has yet to issue an official statement.
