Tears have continued to flow among staff of Etsako West Local Government Area, Edo State, following what they described as a “double tragedy” suffered by one of their colleagues, Mr. Moses Eluniamien Ikhemien, who lost his 15-year-old son and is now unable to retrieve the boy’s corpse from Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital over an outstanding medical bill of N1.8 million.
Ikhemien, a staff member of Etsako West LGA, said he initially took his son to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) after noticing that the boy had a swollen stomach and was experiencing severe pain.
He said following diagnosis and a few days of treatment at UBTH, the hospital referred the boy to Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, where he was diagnosed with liver cancer and subsequently admitted for further treatment.
According to Ikhemien, his son was admitted on July 2, 2026, but unfortunately died on July 21, 2026, after 19 days of treatment.
Following the death, Ikhemien said he made arrangements to convey the corpse home for burial, only to discover that the hospital had withheld the body after depositing it in its mortuary over an outstanding bill of N1.8 million.
The bereaved father said the cost of his son’s treatment had already placed a huge financial burden on him, noting that he incurred additional expenses on drugs and other necessities outside the hospital bill.
In an effort to assist their colleague, some staff members of Etsako West LGA reportedly visited the hospital to negotiate the outstanding bill and seek support for the release of the corpse.
However, they alleged that hospital officials declined to entertain their request, claiming that the actual bill was “over N3 million,” but that the hospital had been magnanimous by reducing it to N1.8 million.
Ikhemien said he
He appealed to the Edo State Government, public-spirited individuals and other relevant authorities to intervene and help secure the release of his son’s corpse so that the family could give him a befitting burial.
The development has sparked concerns among residents and civil servants over hospital policies regarding the detention of corpses over unpaid medical bills, as well as the increasing financial burden of medical treatment on families.
Staff of Etsako West LGA have also appealed to the state government and other stakeholders to urgently intervene in the matter and prevail on Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital to release the deceased for burial.
When contacted, Chairman of Medical Advisory Committee, Irrua Specialist Hospital, Dr Olukunle Obagaye said he was not aware of the case and queried why the father of the deceased boy did not contact the committee.
“I am not aware of that case , again if I don’t have the information that a boy of that age died of cancer here and the hospital bill is about N1.8 million .
“The father of that child did not come to our office, because we have somebody who came to pay N5.5 million hospital bill for indigent patients. The father of the boy did not come to the office of CMAC and went to the Facebook, I have been in CMAC since 2023, and as I speak to you now I am in the office . People come everyday here to pay bills for indigent patients, we just relieved a child whose mother died of breast cancer on Thursday, As long as I am concerned, we are not aware of that case , that is a fraudulent case.” He concluded.
