THE LEGALITY OF BURYING CORPSES IN RESIDENTIAL PREMISES

Growing up in the ancient city of Benin, it was a common sight to behold graveyards around residential apartments. While some families placed it conspicuously at the front yard of their houses, others kept it from the glare of the public, behind the family house. The indiscriminate use of dwelling-houses as burial sites is a common practice all over Nigeria.

Not too many Nigerians are aware that to bury any corpse in a house, building, premises, yard, garden, compound, or within a hundred yards of any dwelling-house, or in open space within a town is an offence unless the approval of the President or the Governor is first sought. One must know that in our legal jurisprudence, ignorance of the law is never a shield to an accused person facing criminal charge. I am unaware of anyone who has been prosecuted for this offence. However, the fact that no offender has been prosecuted on account of this offence, does not invalidate the provision.  

The relevant provision of the law that prohibits this practice is section 246 of the Criminal Code Act CAP C38 LFN 2004, applicable to states in Southern part of Nigeria and it is hereby reproduced.

                        “Any person who without the consent of the President or the Governor

                        Buries or attempts to bury any corpse in any house, building, premises,

                        Yards, garden, compound, or within a hundred yards of any dwelling-

                        House, or in any open space situated within a township, is guilty of a

                        Misdemeanor, and is liable to imprisonment for six months.”    

 It was against this backdrop that the Lagos State Government in 2020 placed a ban on burying corpses within residential premises across the State as part of measures to sensitize the public and prevent transmission of communicable diseases. The ban was supposed to warn members of the public of the health implications of such practice and dissuade them from using their homes as burial sites for corpses. It is important to recognize that the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria empowers state governments to make laws to protect public health. To that extent, most States in Nigeria including Edo and Lagos State prohibits burial within residential areas. However, it seems that Nigerians are uninterested in such laws as they have continued in its violation.

For most Nigerians, burying a deceased family member in public cemeteries is often undesirable due to the horrible and nauseating conditions of the cemeteries. A visit to some of the cemeteries will reveal that they have been overtaken by weeds. As such, the place has become a safe haven for robbers and wild animals. We submit that having failed in its responsibility to maintain this important public space, it would be immoral and unreasonable for government at different levels to prosecute offenders.

Again, it is important to emphasized that pursuant to the said law, any individual who desires to bury his deceased relation in a residential premises or compound, has a duty to first inform the appropriate authority. The essence is to give health officials opportunity to inspect and scrutinize the proposed sites to ensure that it is safe and does not endanger the lives of people living nearby. In places like Lagos State, the law allows individual to cremate the corpses of their deceased relation as an alternative to burial. However, the high rate of burial being carried out in the State shows the preference of burial over cremation.

In 2013, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola signed into law the Cremation Bill. The law empowers the State to cremate corpses abandoned in mortuaries and to dispose of the ashes of the cremated corpse if the owners refuse to claim it after a 14 days’ notice. It interesting to note that family members of a deceased person can have the corpse cremated. The law prohibited private cremation. That is to say, all cremation must be done in a crematorium established or supervised by the State’s Ministry of Health.

Whatever the preference, Nigerians should know that burying corpses in residential apartments is unlawful and unfashionable. On the other hand, government should ensure that cemeteries are properly maintained.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article is intended to provide general information on the subject matter. Professional advice should be sought about the reader’s specific circumstances.

 

Contact Info:

 

Nosakhare Okuonghae

LegalPractitioner/LegalInformation Professional

nosakhareokuonsofficial@gmail.com

+234-9156497843

 

 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Debit Alerts: The Legality of Electronic Money Transfer Levy by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Image
    More than ever before, Nigerians are getting frustrated with the incessant bank debit alerts, being sent by their banks on account of one charge or levy. While these arbitrary deductions may sometimes go unnoticed by wealth customers, majority of Nigerians are not only aware, but irritated by it. However, considering the stress of going to the Bank to lodge complaints and the petite sum involved, they are forced to bear this pathetic situation. Essentially, Commercial banks are not charitable organizations. They are established to make profits. As a business organization, they make profits from charges levied on product and service rendered to their customers. This may include a flat fee of  N 6.98 for the use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), a platform that enables customer to carry out internet banking transactions. Similarly, commercial banks equally charge customers with ATM card, a quarterly card maintenance fee of N 50, and a host other cha...
Read more

10 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Will

Image
Death is an inevitable fact of life. It is a debt everyone must pay in respective of age, religion or social status. The enlightened are known by the way and manner they prepare for it. Without mincing words, making a Will is one of the most pragmatic ways a person can prepare for this unavoidable fate of mankind. More importantly, when a Will is in place, family members of the deceased are saved from unnecessary tussle, conflict and chaos that accompany the estate of man who dies without specific instructions concerning his estate. Generally speaking, the surest way to rest in peace even in death, is for a person to make proper arrangements for his family while his faculties are still intact. What is a Will? A Will is a legal document voluntarily executed according to the prevailing law by a person of a sound mind by which he/she prescribes the manner his/her assets (including real and personal properties) will be distributed after death. The person making the will is called testator ...
Read more

Quick Facts About Nigerian Naira

Image
1.     Naira and kobo are Nigeria’s official currency and legal tender. 2.     The currency was introduced in Nigeria on 1 st January 1973 to replace the British Pounds and Shillings to reflect the country independent status. 3.   The currency structure comprises of three coin denominations (50k, N 1 and N 2), eight banknote denominations ( N 5, N 10, N 20, N 50, N 100, N 200, N 500 and N 1000). 4.     The N 20, N 50, N 100, N 200, N 500 and N 1000 banknotes were introduced in 1977, 1991,1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005 respectively. 5.   ‘Naira’ was derived from the word ‘Nigeria’ by the late nationalist, Obafemi Awolowo. 6. The currency is often abbreviated as ‘NGN’ and depicted with letter ‘N’ having double strikethrough ‘ N’ 7. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), pursuant to the CBN Act is the sole issuer of legal tender currency in Nigeria. Consequently, it is unlawful for any individual or establishment to print or counte...
Read more