The University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) has announced plans to conduct a mass burial for more than 50 unclaimed corpses that have remained in its morgue for over 10 years.

The hospital management said the bodies had been abandoned beyond the statutory 90-day period, despite several efforts to locate their relatives and have them claimed.

The Chairman of the Special Task Force on the Evacuation of Abandoned and Unclaimed Corpses at UCTH, Dr David Ushie, disclosed that the mass burial had been scheduled for Wednesday, October 21, 2026, following the expiration of a three-week grace period granted to families.

He called on individuals and families whose relatives' remains were being kept in the hospital's morgue to come forward, identify the bodies and retrieve them on or before the deadline.

Ushie warned that the hospital would proceed with the mass burial of all corpses that remained unclaimed after October 21, without issuing another notice.

“The October 21 deadline remains firm. The hospital would not issue another notice before carrying out the mass burial,” he said.

Speaking earlier on behalf of the Chief Medical Director of UCTH, Prof. Ikpeme Ikpeme, the Deputy Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee in charge of Clinical Services, Dr Stephen Ogbudu, attributed the growing number of unclaimed corpses to the rising cost of burial ceremonies and cultural practices that place considerable financial burdens on bereaved families and their in-laws.

Ogbudu explained that the directive applied to bodies kept in the mortuary beyond the statutory 90-day period from the date of deposit, adding that some had remained there for more than a decade.

He said the prolonged storage of the corpses had created space constraints in the morgue, making it difficult for the hospital to accommodate additional bodies.

According to him, the planned evacuation is aimed at reducing pressure on the mortuary, improving sanitation and ensuring a more conducive environment for the delivery of clinical services.

The management urged members of the public who may have relatives among the unclaimed bodies to act before the October 21 deadline, stressing that the hospital would not grant any further extension.