Obio ekpo (land of death) is his nickname. In official circle, he is known as Peter. But his late father’s name remains Itim. An indigene of Anua in Uyo local government area of Akwa Ibom State, he is publicity shy. He hates seeing his picture in the mass media. We assured that his picture would not be used before he granted the interview. Peter served Akwa Ibom government for 35 years and retired as a senior mortuary attendant from the civil service in 2016. He bares his mind on a dreaded job- embalment of corpses.
Odyssey in Work: I started work as a mortuary attendant in St. Luke’s Hospital, Anua under the supervision of the late Dr. Ann Ward in 1977. I retired from General Hospital, Ikot Ekpene.
Mortuary is a place filled with fear. When corpses were brought to me for ‘perfusing method’ of embalment, I never despised or malingered. Even in retirement, I still embalm corpses once I am consulted.To embalm, I may not know the person while alive or where he comes from. In this case, I have to embalm the corpse without entertaining any fear.
A corpse could change anytime to anything. It is always alleged that ghost accompanies a corpse. Yes, it is true, though I have not had any encounter with one. I have trained many people. One thing I believe is that anytime I enter mortuary, I go with God. At times, I look at the face of a corpse and I see a different thing or a changed face. Assuming the deceased belonged to a secret organisation, the corpse has to manifest some strange signs.
Dead Operate in The Physical Realm: If the dead was a member of secret or occultic organisation, I have to perform secret embalment. There are different types of embalment, but I have to apply the relevant one to meet peculiar condition.There are some secret societies that do discourage embalment of their members. In a case like this, I perform what is called ‘secret embalment’ and make sure the corpse is buried by 12 mdinight same day. The graveside must be chained.
If you visit a cemetery in the night, you will hear different sounds. At times, you see a ghost appearing and disappearing. The existence of ghost in the physical realm is real contrary to some religious beliefs. Sometimes, a person could pour libation on the graveside and invoke ghost for another person. In some cases, the ghost kills. Some morticians fall sick and others die due to the risky nature of their duty. You could embalm a corpse killed by juju but there was an injunction that anybody who touches or embalms or buries the corpse should die. If you are not careful and the mercy of God is not with you, you can become sick or die.
Some devilish corpses are dangerous to handle and they kill some morticians. When I went to Ikot Ekpene, a staff in the hospital told me of a mortician who collected items from the relatives of a deceased brought for embalment. He was said to be struck with stroke and he died untimely.
What we (morticians) see, we cannot tell all to avoid instilling fear into people. It is abominable to tell a mortuary apprentice what you (an experienced mortician) see daily. I remember my apprentice who told me that he went in and saw the corpse sitting. I tried to calm him down in order to bolster his courage. I remember a corpse that was brought to my mortuary and he released soldier ants and people in the hospital fled. I used a particular chemical (not mentioned) to destablise and kill the evil ants. Apart from formalin used for embalment, there are other types for embalmment, I would not want to mention here. I use pricillin and salt, among others to embalm.
Happiest Moment: I do not regret doing embalment. I even pray that people should die. It is from there, I make money to sustain myself and my family. I enjoy the work because God destined it for me to eke out means of livelihhod.
Corpse injects fear into the living. But to me, it does not. If the person was wicked, the family could abandon the corpse to a mortician. If this happens, I have to charge the family higher fee. As a mortician, I try to be careful to avoid entering trouble. A person may be beheaded, wrapped in mat and could be brought for embalmment. Before I collect it, I have to check and certify that the corpse is in good condition.
Dead Persons Travel: A dead person travels perhaps to Lagos or any other place depending on what he was initiated into while alive. If the person dies, the family has to ascertain the membership his secret organisation. Then, the family could mandate the mortician to perform certain rites before burial, if not there could be problem. If the person was initiated into withcraft and he dies then a meeting is scheduled to hold in Lagos, he could go and return to the mortuary at will.But if a mortician performs some rites, the dead finds it difficult to go for the meeting.
Corpses Commit Havocs: Some corpses cause a lot of troubles in the mortuary. I have heard that some male corpses could have sex with some female corpses. It has not happened to me, but many of them depending on what they were initiated into while alive commit havocs in the mortuary.
Embalm 500,000 Corpses: I have embalmed more than 500,000 corpses since I joined and retired from government. In General Hospital, Ikot Ekpene alone, I embalmed and handled mass burial of 100,000 corpses in a day. I have trained 12 morticians, but two are dead.
Bad Luck: Yes, there are some corpses with evil spells that attract bad luck. For example, if I want to do open method of embalment, I can use needle and it breaks, then I know that the dead is a harbinger of bad luck. If I use needle and syringe to inject the corpse and it still breaks I know the corpse heralds bad luck. The corpse can break up to 10 needles. In a situation like this, only ‘perfusing method’ of embalment can be used on the corpse.
Advice to Apprentice Mortician: I want to advise a young mortician to abide by the rules of embalment. It is advisable to worship God alone. In other words, he must not be an initiate of an evil society, must not do incision on the body and must not drink any wicked concoction. He must not supply water used in bathing the corpse to anybody for financial gain, must not supply the wrapper or shirt of the dead in return for gratification and must not give hair of the dead to person who brought the corpse or any other person for pecuniary purpose to avoid problem.
Risks in Embalment: It is a risky job. Chemicals used for embalment are dangerous and can cause infertility in a man. They dry and make a mortician look pale and emaciated like HIV patient. Even though I used to collect hazard allowance and free uniforms, such could not be compensated for the hazardous nature of the duty.
Advice to the Living: I want to advise politicians to play the game according to laid-down rules devoid of discrimination and selfishness, knowing that death awaits everybody. I saw a man (name withheld) who was shot by unknown persons, but he died disgracefully leaving shame for his family. For the public office holders, they should not think you will remain in power permanently.
Since I retired some years ago, I have not collected my gratuity. However, I have been collecting my monthly pensions. I am jobless now. Without this farming, I will go hungry. I want to appeal to Akwa Ibom government to pay me my gratuity so that I can use it to fend for myself.
Let people stop eating from two different tables- that of God and that of Satan. Repent and seek God because if a man dies the corpse is useless. Walk on the path of righteousness because on the day of home call, the dead goes to his creator to answer queries. No matter the position or dressing, once the person dies, they are all gone. Know that one day you will die. Be good to all manners of people.
