Features

Why the dead are not resting in peace

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5 years ago

A cemetery is simply a piece of land for burying the dead. In Nigeria’s traditional communities, the dead used to be and are still buried at home, though many other communities now have their own cemeteries.

Apart from community-owned cemeteries, there are also public cemeteries which fall under local government management and supervision. Unfortunately today, most of the public cemeteries in Nigeria are in a sad state.

Take Lagos as a typical example; from Ikoyi cemetery to Ikorodu, Imota, Atan, among others, facilities at cemeteries are overstretched, spaces overcrowded, while many graves had caved in. It is not uncommon to have mourners stepping on graves or even falling into shallow ones when they are about to bury their own dead.

Not only this, many public cemeteries are also characterised by encroachment by immediate communities, overcrowding, poor layout and inadequate staffing including lack of proper disposal of corpses as there had been reports of bodies washed away during flooding.

In fact, there was a report that went viral in 2018 about corpses inside open graves at Imota cemetery in Ikorodu area of Lagos. Despite protests by residents then, the situation has not improved significantly.

In many instances, same graves are used to bury fresh corpses as the bones of the former corpses are removed, apparently after some money would have exchanged hands.

From Port-Harcourt to Kano, Kaduna, Lagos and Maiduguri, the story of public cemeteries is the same. What is clear in all these is that things could be done in a better way at public cemeteries across the nation.

Pauper’s burial

One of the oldest cemeteries and perhaps the biggest in the country is the Atan cemetery located in Yaba, Yaba Local Council Development Area of Lagos State. It was established in 1868 by the British colonialists.

Today, it has evolved into two sections – the private and public. The private section is run by BMC and Ebony Casket Ventures and it is uniquely designed for the elite – political and business class, the wealthy and the nouveaux riche. The public section is an ‘all-comers’ affairs and affords the common man the opportunity of at least getting a decent burial.

Like many other public cemeteries, Atan served as the deposit ground for remains of deceased prisoners, abandoned and unclaimed corpses at morgues, unidentified accident victims, among others. This characteristic has earned the 25-hectare graveyard the title of being the popular choice for a ‘pauper’s burial.’

Investigations also reveal that securing a two and a half by six feet space goes for an unofficial rate of N25,000 as against between N250,000 and N350,000 for a permanent vault at the private section of the cemetery.

Explaining the features of the temporary burial, one of the cemetery’s gravediggers who pleaded anonymity told Sunday Tribune that the exorbitant price tag on the permanent vaults is the reason many families settle for the temporary grave.

The source revealed that “since the cost of buying a spot at the permanent vault is unbearable for most families, they settle for the popular burial site which comes at a cheaper rate.

“Unlike the permanent vault, the grave has no burial chamber. Corpses are lowered in the belly of the earth without any mark. Although some families choose temporary ground and when they have enough funds, they demand for their corpse to be moved to the permanent vault.

“It all depends on the financial strength of the families of the deceased. We have had instances where burial shrouds and bones of a corpse are removed from the earth when gravediggers are preparing a space for another burial because in the case of a popular burial site, it is difficult to identify the spot a corpse was buried.

“But what you can’t take away from us here is our consciousness for the safety of the cemetery and the corpses. Adequate security of the corpses is guaranteed, therefore stealing corpses’ bones or shrouds for ritual purposes is not possible. That has never happened and it can never happen because we have policemen patrolling both the inside and outside of the cemetery,” cemetery source explained.

Atan is safe, professionally managed —DG

One of the characteristics of the public section of Atan cemetery is the sight of rundown graves, overgrown weed and allegation of poor management. It was also gathered that there is poor maintenance and evacuation of shallow graves to give room for the burial of another corpse.

Reacting to these allegations, Mr Jude Aisuebeogun, Director General of the cemetery, said Atan cemetery is not only popular for being among the oldest cemeteries in Nigeria, it also ranks among the best final resting places because of its serene atmosphere, professional conduct of its personnel and the safety of corpses in the cemetery.

According to him, the management of the cemetery and its gravediggers are conscious of, and sensitive to their duties to maintaining standards.

Speaking further, he refuted allegations bordering on insecurity and mishandling of corpses by the graveyard personnel.

“None of us here would want our remains to be mutilated or handled without care. I don’t know where you got your information from but I can tell with all sense of responsibility that we are conscious of the sensitivity of our line of business and what is likely to happen in case of any lapses.

“And this is why we have highly dedicated, sincere and honest personnel and our internal security and the police combing the cemetery day and night.

“On the allegation of corpses’ shroud and bones littering the cemetery, let me ask, since we have been moving around, have you seen any bone or clothes that are suggestive of corpses’ items?

“Definitely, the allegation is unfounded and baseless. There are two categories of undertakers here in this cemetery. There is the private cemetery and the public section. I am sure you are not expecting those that opted for the public burial section to pay as high as what is charged for the private cemetery.

“There are different price regimes in operation. Let me say this emphatically, Atan cemetery is safe, secure and all transactions are receipted accordingly,” he said.

A trip to Sango in Ibadan

Sango cemetery in Ibadan, one of the oldest public cemeteries in the state, is under the supervision of Irepodun Local Council Development Area of Oyo State. Like every other public cemetery, the layout is disorganised with so many shallow graves in the entire landscape. Only a few could be regarded as proper graves as they look well-maintained and are obviously resting places of persons who were men and women of means while alive.

Several others graves are not marked, neither do they have tombstones. It is common knowledge that many of the unmarked graves contain corpses of unclaimed accident vicitms and criminals. There are also security concerns about the cemeteries.

A visit to the cemetery to gather more information about how it is being run met a brickwall as the workers there directed Sunday Tribune to Irepodun LCDA located within the premises of Ibadan North Local Government Area, Agodi Gate, where it was gathered that the Head of Civil Service was the only one who could speak on the cemetery.

However, Sunday Tribune was told to expect a call from the council but as of the time of filing this report it was yet to make any contact.

An attendant at the cemetery who simply identified herself as MrsGbadamosi told Sunday Tribune that a spot for burial costs between N65,000 and N150,000. She added that out of the N65,000, N25,000 goes into the purse of the government while the remaining N40,000 is for the men who dig the grave of about two feet deep.

She, however, said a more respectable grave is N150,000 because cement blocks are used to build a chamber with a cover for the corpse which is more secure given the fear over possible exhumation by grave robbers.

Treat corpse with dignity —Lisa of Isheri-Oke

Reacting to the allegation of mishandling of corpses at public cemeteries, Lisa of Isheri-Oke in Lagos State, Chief MarufAdeshina Awakan, said only evil-minded persons would treat corpses with disrespect.

According to him, bones, white shrouds and other items relating to the dead are spiritual, therefore only those with evil minds would have any need for such items.

He said, “Everything about a corpse is spiritual. The sand that was dug from the earth before a corpse is lowered in the grave is spiritual, not to talk of the bones and clothes. Evil minded persons could infiltrate the cemetery and pick these items for rituals and other evil acts.

“This should not be allowed. The local governments in charge (of such cemeteries) and the management of the facility should correct this if it is truly so because the gods and spirits of the dead will torment those that mishandle their corpses.”

Going down memory lane, he said: “The popular Campos Square sports centre on the Lagos Island is formerly a burial ground. Since the relocation, spirit of corpses never left the playground. They roam the stadium till date.

“Everything about the dead is spiritually inclined which is why we have to handle any issue relating to the dead with absolute care. As Africans, our belief is that when a person dies, his spirit wanders around for some time. In the night, if one visits a cemetery, one would observe that one could feel light-headed and heavy sometimes. This is why it is forbidden for the living to visit the grave at night.”

Speaking further, Chief Awakan advised governments at different level to look into the state of public cemeteries around the country, while also asking the authorities superintending over public cemeteries “to keep a close watch on graves put in their care and not allow any harm come to the corpses buried therein.”