From Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki
The age long practice of embalming and keeping corpses at home days before their interment in many communities in Ebonyi State has been banned by the government.
The state government said the practice was no longer acceptable, describing it as unhealthy, barbaric and weird.
Disclosing this to newsmen yesterday, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezuruike, said the government will not hesitate to sanction any one found in the act. He noted that embalming and keeping corpses in home can lead to epidemic and called on those practising the act to desist from it.
“Any mortician that indulges in this is a disgrace to his profession and will be arrested and prosecuted. This is because a lot of diseases can be transmitted through that means.
“There is also form of putrefaction taking place and building up of micro-organism when you do this. The agent (chemical) used in this embalmment is not healthy; it causes allergy and reactions of various levels to human beings. So, it is unacceptable.
“Anybody you see doing that, report the person to the police and to us because it is the duty of police to ensure that a dead person should be kept in a right place” he said.