Lagos To Cremate Unclaimed Corpses

With the Cremations Bill 2012 almost ready for passage into law by the Lagos State House of Assembly, any corpse that is not claimed within a specific period would henceforth be cremated.
Cremation is the act of burning corpses until they become ashes.


While this is a practice in some countries as part of their tradition, other countries do it to preserve their land for development.
The bill, proposes the establishment of a crematorium that will take care of unclaimed corpses within the state.
The bill, which also makes provision for voluntary cremation of corpses, also stresses that when passed into law, it will “solve the problem associated with getting land for mass burial.”

It will further help to decongest the state mortuaries as well as reduce the battle with cases of unidentified and unclaimed corpses within the state.
The bill, which is made of 12 sections, however, emphasises that when passed into law, it would exempt any corpse that has been buried for one year or more. It would also exempt parts of a human body taken during a medical procedure or autopsy.

While Section 5 of the bill stresses that a cremator may only cremate with the permission of the authority, Section 6 (sub-Section 1) says those who may apply for corpses to be cremated include: a child or children of the deceased, a close relative of the deceased, an undertaker or an agent/legal representative.

Subsection 3 of Section 6 proposes that if the application to cremate is made by an independent doctor, who did not sign the cause of death certificate, then, “the application must be accompanied by a copy of the cause of death certificate, and unless applied, a cremation risk certificate issued for the deceased’s person.”
The bill, which has passed through second reading at the floor of the House, further states that the corpse which permission for cremation is being sought by an independent doctor must not be a reportable death under the Coroners Bill or have police or legal issues.

The bill, also known as ‘A Law To Provide For Voluntary Cremation Of Corpses And Unclaimed Corpses Within Lagos State, also makes provision for those who before their death asked to be cremated.
In this case, the application to cremate their remains should be accompanied by their signed instruction and after the permission is granted, the remains can be cremated in accordance with the signed instructions.

Section 8 of the bill states that, “The Medical Directors of the state hospitals shall order for the cremation of unclaimed bodies in their respective mortuaries after six weeks of which such bodies are not claimed.
“This shall be with the consent and approval of the Commissioner for Health.”

Section 9 of the bill proposes that the Attorney-General may give the cremator in charge of a crematorium a written notice through the Commissioner of Health prohibiting the cremation of a deceased person’s human remains either temporarily or permanently.

Section 9 states that the cremator in charge of a crematorium must not dispose of the ashes remaining after a cremation except in accordance with any reasonable written instructions of the applicant.

“However, the cremator in charge may bury the ashes in a burial ground if, within one year after the cremation, the applicant does not give reasonable written instructions for the disposal of the ashes.

“Before burying the ashes, the cremator in charge must give the applicant at least 28 days written notice of intention to bury the ashes…the notice must be sent to the applicant’s address for service on the permission to cremate,” the bill proposes.

The bill gives power to the Commissioner for Health to approve application forms that may be used for the purpose and make regulations under the bill, prescribe fees for the bill and impose penalties for contravention of a regulation.

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