Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
The Edo State Police Command has confirmed the rescue and possibly arrest of a mortuary attendant following allegations of missing organs from a corpse at Akugbe Mortuary, located in the Upper Sakponba area of Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Eno Ikoedem, disclosed that the command received a distress call on Friday indicating that a mob was attempting to lynch a suspect at the mortuary.
She said the Divisional Police Officer of the Ugbekun Division was immediately deployed to the scene, where officers successfully rescued a mortuary attendant from an angry crowd over allegations of organ harvesting. Police operatives promptly intervened and rescued the suspect.
The police image maker said that the suspect was subsequently taken into protective custody and transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.
Ikoedem added that the allegation emanated from claims by relatives of a deceased person that some organs were missing from the corpse when they arrived to collect it for burial.
She stressed that investigations were ongoing to determine the facts surrounding the allegation, adding that no conclusion had been reached at this stage.
The Edo State Police Command urged members of the public to remain calm, refrain from taking the law into their hands, and allow due process to take its course, assuring that anyone found culpable would be dealt with in accordance with the law.