Exhumations: rarely done procedure but useful in many circumstances—a review of 47 cases in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: To do a comprehensive analysis of all exhumation and post mortem examination (EPME) performed in South-South region of Nigeria, with an aim to determine the causes of death and various factors that affect it. Methodology: This is a retrospective study of all EPME that were done in South-South region of Nigeria over 16 years (1 January 2001 and 31 December 2017). The duplicate copies of all EPME reports that were written previously and police reports for each case were reviewed. Results: A total of 47 cases were seen. The youngest case was a 6-month-old male and the oldest an 86-year-old man. Males accounted for 72.3% of cases. Age group 20–29 years accounted for most (19.1%) cases. The history summary included sudden traumatic death (40.4%), bodies found floating on the river (23.4%), and kidnapped victims (8.5%). In 91.5% of cases, the autopsies were performed immediately after exhumation beside the grave. Grave locations were the river bank (23.4%), farm lands (21.3%), the deceased family compound (21.3%), cemetery (17%), and in the forest (10.6%). Two mass graves were seen containing 8 bodies and 11 bodies, respectively. A casket was used in 9 cases (19.1%). The shortest interval between burial and exhumation was 5 days, and the longest interval was 348 days. On exhumation, the remains were moderately to severely decomposed (36.2%), skeletonized (34%), or partially decomposed (23.4%). The causes of death were seen in 63.8% of cases. Conclusion: Exhumation, though rarely done, still remains a useful procedure, because in a significant number of cases, it helped to answer the medico-legal question (the causes of death were seen). Young males account for most cases in our setting.