56-year-old Mr Chijoku Ihunwo recounts his anguish to CHUKWUDI AKASIKE after discovering his wife’s remains missing from a Rivers State mortuary where he had been making installment payments for her preservation
When did your wife pass away?
She died on May 6, 2025.
When did you take her body to the mortuary?
I brought her to Pamax Hospital Mortuary in Omagwa, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State, that same day.
What were the initial costs?
The mortuary owner registered me personally since the secretary wasn’t available. They quoted N70,000 for embalming, but I paid N50,000 initially.
What happened in the following months?
My wife and I were extremely close, so visiting the mortuary left me distraught. My relatives advised me to stop going, so I began sending my children instead.
Around June 6, I made another payment of N25,000. I was paying in installments because I didn’t have enough money for the burial at once. My children visited monthly to check on the body.
In August, my children saw her body. They didn’t visit in September. On October 8, 2025, when they went again, staff told them they were “treating” the body. I didn’t question this since I wasn’t familiar with mortuary procedures. That day, they paid another N30,000.
When was the burial scheduled?
December 13, 2025. We set the date in November. Afterward, I sent my children and relatives to the mortuary to calculate the remaining balance.
When they arrived, they called me in shock—my wife’s body was nowhere to be found. I thought they were joking. They searched again and confirmed the body was missing. I immediately left work and went to the mortuary myself.
I confronted the owner: “Madam, I entrusted my wife’s body to you for preservation until burial, but we cannot locate it.”
She asked for my receipt and insisted the body must be inside. She and the mortician entered the mortuary together. Within three minutes, the mortician bolted out the back door, scaled the fence, and disappeared.
What did the mortuary owner do?
She came out asking where the mortician went. We told her he’d fled. She tried calling him, but he didn’t answer. That’s when I knew something was seriously wrong. I went straight to Omagwa Police Station to report the matter.
How did police respond?
They came to the mortuary and arrested the owner. On November 27, 2025, police informed us the case would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) because they couldn’t handle it at the local level.
Why did you choose a mortuary in Omagwa when you live in Emohua?
I’m originally from Ibaa in Emohua LGA, but I work at Trans-Amadi in Port Harcourt and built my house in Igwurita in Ikwerre LGA. Pamax Hospital Mortuary in Omagwa is close to my house.
Do you have receipts for all payments?
Yes, I have all receipts. I assumed the SCID would resolve the matter.
What happened at SCID?
They demanded money to “find the corpse.” I told them I had no money and suggested they ask the mortuary owner. Somehow, they released her without my knowledge. Last Friday, after my video went viral online, they called me in.
What did SCID officers tell you?
The Investigating Police Officer (IPO) and his superior told me to take the mortician to court. I said I didn’t arrest the mortician—I arrested the mortuary owner where I deposited my wife’s body. They told me if I prosecuted the mortician, he’d only get a maximum two-year sentence. Inspector Isaac and his boss said I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it because they’d “removed the woman from the matter.”
I began to suspect they’d collected money from her.
How much did police demand from you?
N200,000. They expected me—the victim whose wife’s body went missing—to pay N200,000. I told them I had no money and wouldn’t give them one naira.
What did you tell people expecting to attend the burial on December 13?
I informed my in-laws, my community, and my family about what happened. They asked if the mortuary owner was arrested, and I confirmed she was. The matter remains at SCID.
Surprisingly, the mortuary owner has never called to discuss resolving the situation. This strengthens my suspicion that she bribed the police.
What do you think happened to your wife’s body?
When the mortician fled, I knew something was wrong. I suspect they used my wife’s body for business—that perhaps the mortician and mortuary owner sold it.
Sold it for what purpose?
I don’t know. I can’t say. What I need is my wife’s body so we can bury her properly.
How is your family coping?
They’re devastated. We planned a protest for today (Saturday), but because farming season starts the same day, we’ve postponed it.
What other steps are you taking?
We’re considering spiritual measures. But those who took my wife’s body know where it is.
Will you take the matter to court?
If I had money, I would have. But I don’t, and court cases drag on endlessly—come tomorrow, come next week, come next month, come next year.
That’s why I haven’t gone to court. The mortuary owner should simply return my wife’s body so I can bury her.
How many children do you have?
Four children.
Do you want Rivers State Government intervention?
Absolutely. Remember what happened in Ngor Okpalla LGA in Imo State—the government seized the mortuary owner’s facility and even his house because of human parts trafficking. In my case, an entire body vanished from the mortuary.
I blame the police. A corpse disappeared from the mortuary, yet the facility still operates and the body remains missing.
What’s your message to the Nigeria Police?
They should do their job properly. I believe the woman paid them off. Otherwise, why would they tell me a court case would only result in two years’ imprisonment? That’s what made me walk out of their office last Friday.
Please, if you can alert the state government about this matter, I’d be grateful. I have nobody to help me. I work for a Chinese company. I’ve been there many years, but it was my wife who helped raise our children. Three are graduates; the youngest is still in university. Now the entire burden is on me alone.
How old are you?
I’m 56 years old.
How old was your wife?
She was 50 years old.
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