Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly have begun the process of passing the Cremation Bill 2012 into law. When it comes into effect, cremation of corpses, especially unclaimed ones will commence.
The bill is titled “A Bill for a Law to Provide for Voluntary Cremation of Corpses and Unclaimed Corpses within Lagos State.”
The Assembly, in its findings, discovered that inability of relations to claim corpses of their relatives was contributing to the situation of the mortuaries in the State. It also discovered that unclaimed corpses at the State mortuaries could also lead to epidemic.
The bill is set to take care of some issues relating to the management of the mortuaries and would lead to the establishment of a crematorium for mostly unclaimed corpses as well as voluntary cremation of corpses.
The law would also solve the problem associated with getting land for mass burial; decongest the mortuaries battling with cases of unidentified and unclaimed corpses.