₦airaland Forum

My first time and still only time at/in a morgue...
I was out of state. My mum passed away. This was during covid 19. But she succumbed to diabetes. At 66. In a federal medical hospital. They also have a morgue. So she was transferred there.

I have heard a lot about morgue visits. When I lost a brother. My sister told me that the morgue at UCH Ibadan was a very scary place to be. She was maybe 15 and I was maybe 12 then and she was at the morgue with the wife to identify his corpse. She described a morgue in really incredible strange terms. I knew that people exaggerate.

They often want to make you think that a morgue is a spiritual or gothic place, that the dead people are still somehow alive but naked and cold.

Some will even tell you that they go out and come back. Se will even say they sneeze, they eat, they copulate. They hold meetings...

Why are they dead if they can still do things that a living person does?

So I was mentally prepared when it was my turn to see a morgue in and out.

My uncle was there, my brother was there, 2 of my sister's were there except a 6 months pregnant one ( they believe that a spirit can enter her in the morgue) so we left her behind.

At the morgue, inside. I have decided not to let my gaze wonder too far.

When they entered the room or I don't know what it's called. I decided to stay at the entrance because they had to wheel her out for proper identification. I was the only one yet to see her corpse. She died the previous day.

She looked like she was sleeping. I don't know if any man can see their parent in such state and not cry. The tears came without my permission or awareness, I was crying before I realized that I was crying then I felt a hand on my shoulder.
It was just my uncle. I had never cried so hard since I was an adult that someone had to console me. When I lost my very handsome dad as a child, he was just 50 but I have always thought that he was the oldest man, I didn't know if I was to cry or try to be a young man.

Now I know better. I didn't remember anything about spirits I just kept remembering that till I matured. There's no time my mum slept outside unless she travelled. Here she was in this cold place since yesterday among strangers...

There was once corpse behind the entrance, the only one the corner of my eye caught.

I didn't want to stare at it because I won't forget about it. I don't know how to describe this corpse, obviously it didn't die of natural causes. It was bloated and greenish...

There was one worker at morgue. A middle aged man. He also knew my mum at the ward when she was alive. So I learnt or made to believe.
He followed us to the burial. But this man was an extremely quiet person...

He sat away from the crowd. Won't drink alcohol. Ate enough.
I don't know if it was customary for morticians to attend the funeral.

Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't a ghost. But I don't believe in ghosts.

illicit:
■ Now I know better. I didn't remember anything about spirits I just kept remembering that till I matured. There's no time my mum slept outside unless she travelled. Here she was in this cold place wine since yesterday among strangers...
■ There was one worker at morgue. A middle aged man. He also knew my mum at tbe ward when she was alive. So I learnt it believed.
He followed us to the burial. But this man was an extremely quiet person... He sat away from the crowd. Won't drink alcohol. Ate enough. I don't know if it was customary for morticians to attend the funeral. Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't a ghost. But I don't believe in ghosts.

I have been to what you would consider a morgue. I used to be a medical student back in Nigeria and we were required to cut up cadavers that were left on cold slabs all day and night. So, yeah, experience for you. While the cadavers in the medical school looked dried up since they were not properly stored after each use, those recently dead, particularly those who either died in their sleep or under the influence usually look like they were sleeping and that is to be expected since death is sort of an eternal sleep of sorts.

2. If the man from the morgue ate food and the food went down into his stomach and not the floor from his mouth, doesn't that mean he is not a ghost — he was tangible like you and every other human out there?

What exactly is wrong with the man being extremely quiet though? He may have been through countless bodies and funerals so why did you expect him to make noise at the one you had for your mom? And why expect him to mingle with people whose bodies he might encounter the next day or soon after?

Anyways, I don't buy the idea of ghosts except when I am watching a movie or reading fiction. I instead believe that when an ordinary human dies, he or she remains inside of and rots with the body he or lived in — from dust, you were made and to dust you are returned after you die.

You can't help but think deep when you see bodies of men and women, some of who once lived larger than life, controlling hundreds and sometimes thousands of their fellow men, laying helpless on the floor.

Kobojunkie:
I have been to what you would consider a morgue. I used to be a medical student back in Nigeria and we were required to cut up cadavers who were left on cold slabs all day and night. So, yeah, experience for you. While the cadavers in the medical school looked dried up since they were not properly stored after each use, those recently dead, particularly those who either died in their sleep or under the influence usually look like they were sleeping and that is to be expected since death is sort of an eternal sleep of sorts.

2. If the man from the morgue ate food and the food went down into his stomach and not the floor from his mouth, doesn't that mean he is not a ghost — he was tangible like you and every other human out there?

What exactly is wrong with the man being extremely quiet though? He may have been through countless bodies and funerals so why did you expect him to make noise at the one you had for your mom? And why expect him to mingle with people whose bodies he might encounter the next day or soon after?

Exactly

He must have seen a lot of dead bodies that mingling with people to him seems pointless...

He must have a connection to the dead hence why he was at the funeral and would return to a hall filled with dead people


The lead undertaker was another character. He looks dead. You know during the lying in state or wake keeping. They would often spray the dead body with a body spray I think to keep it fresh and keep flies away...

The guy will spray the corpse and also spray himself with the same can

Who does that. An undertaker.

I considered it weird.

illicit:
■ Exactly. He must have seen a lot of dead bodies that mingling with people to him seems pointless...
He must have a connection to the dead hence why he was at the funeral and would return to a hall filled with dead people
■ The new undertaker was another character. He looks dead. You know during the lying in state. The would often spray the dead body with a body spray I think to keep it fresh and keep flies away...The guy will spray the corpse and also spray himself with the same can. Who does that. An undertaker. I considered it weird.

1. A connection to the dead? That's a bit of a stretch. He probably just figured that by attending the funerals, he could get a free meal and pay his last respects to the dead whom he had had to share his workspace with before that. He is probably aware that one day it will be his turn, so he probably figures he can gather up some good karma for then.

2. It was probably just scented water that was sprayed on the bodies to keep them from drying up. It only seems weird because you are not aware of what he was actually working with and doing.

When my dad died

His body was returned to his hometown. Because he was believed to be attacked spiritually by unknown enemies. Yoruba call them Aye (world) and their potent tool is Ofa (invisible Arrow)

So he wasn't taken to the morgue. His brothers, nephews and male cousins laid him on a bed in his old room. Cleaned and dressed him up in his favorite dress. Then I was summoned as one of his two boys and his last child.

I witnessed them putting a matchet that was wrapped with red linen in his hand and chanting incantations that he shouldnt slumber, he must find his killers and cut them down.

I was maybe 9 but I know that they were just being poetic and dramatic, that is personification of a corpse. A dead man can not use a matchet. Only a living person would.
If a spiritual world exists I doubt if he would need a matchete to bring anybody down. I believed that they were confused but they were very serious.

When he was being buried. These same relatives were there and a reverend was officiating and they were reciting the bible passages and singing hymns that he should rest and praying and saying Amen.

The reverend probably didn't know that there was a matchete in the coffin.

illicit:
When my dad died. His body was returned to his hometown. Because he was believed to be attacked spiritually by unknown enemies. Yoruba call them Aye (world) and their potent tool is Ofa (invisible Arrow). So he wasn't taken to the morgue. His brothers, nephews and male cousins laid him on a bed in his old room. Cleaned and dressed him up in his favorite dress. Then I was summoned as one of his two boys and his last child.
I witnessed them putting a matchet that was wrapped with red linen in his hand and chanting incantations that he shouldnt slumber, he must find his killers and cut them down. I was maybe 9 but I know that they were just being poetic and dramatic, that is personification of a corpse. A dead man can not use a matchet. Only a living person would.
If a spiritual world exists I doubt if he would need a matchete to bring anybody down. I believed that they were confused but they were very serious. When he was being buried. These same relatives were there and a reverend was officiating and they were reciting the bible passages and singing hymns that he should rest and praying and saying Amen. The reverend probably didn't know that there was a matchete in the coffin.

A corpse was believed to be attacked— I bet you someone got paid for that pronouncement. So, you say the corpse was given a machete... an iron tool fudged according to the design of this world with metal refined in this world. Doesn't that sound a bit off to you? Spiritual — intangible attack — yet the tool to fight it is of this physical/tangible world. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Kobojunkie:
A corpse was believed to be attacked— I bet you someone got paid for that pronouncement. So, you say the corpse was given a machete... an iron tool fudged according to the design of this world with metal refined in this world. Doesn't that sound a bit off to you? Spiritual — intangible attack — yet the tool to fight it is of this physical/tangible world. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

😂😂😂😂😂


They believed he died as a result of spiritual attack

So they had to give him a matchet to fight the spiritual battle
As little as I was I knew they were just playing...

Yeah..... multiple times.....been there about 4 times only this year......

It made me to realize that life's only but a mere fantasy......This minute a man is here while the next minute he's gone.....

I am not actually saying there's no spiritual world

I just think it doesn't include dead people as they were. They will have to metamorphise

When you are dead you don't become a spirit and still use that same body. A spirit wil have always been a spirit, has no body.

You are not dead if you can still talk and walk and fight

The dead people in the morgue didn't become spirits as they were. If they became spirits it still doesn't mean they can leave the morgue and roam around or slap people or go out to buy fufu and scare taxi drivers.

A dead body can't do those things.
If a spirit will do those things. It has to inhabit the body of a living person.

I want to write about my experience, but just thinking about it gives me chills. I can't.

Yes, but didn't enter
Life will be useless to you

Acidosis:
I want to write about my experience, but just thinking about it gives me chills. I can't.

Pls do...

illicit:
I am not actually saying there's no spiritual world

I just think it doesn't include dead people as they were. They will have to metamorphise

When you are dead you don't become a spirit and still use that same body. A spirit wil have always been a spirit, has no body.

You are not dead if you can still talk and walk and fight

The dead people in the morgue didn't become spirits as they were. If they became spirits it still doesn't mean they can leave the morgue and roam around or slap people or go out to buy fufu and scare taxi drivers.

A dead body can't do those things.
If a spirit will do those things. It has to inhabit the body of a living person.

Spirits do exist; they just can't directly interact or communicate with mortals the way humans do; sometimes they do so through dreams or through individuals with metaphysical abilities.

illicit:
I am not actually saying there's no spiritual world. I just think it doesn't include dead people as they were. They will have to metamorphise. When you are dead you don't become a spirit and still use that same body. A spirit wil have always been a spirit, has no body. You are not dead if you can still talk and walk and fight The dead people in the morgue didn't become spirits as they were. If they became spirits it still doesn't mean they can leave the morgue and roam around or slap people or go out to buy fufu and scare taxi drivers.
A dead body can't do those things. If a spirit will do those things. It has to inhabit the body of a living person.

Honestly, the claims made by various cultures regarding the existence of this supposed spirit world come off as a bit too arbitrary for anyone to want to take it seriously. Do dead people become spirits though? What reason exists for a spirit to wish to interact or associate with a dead body? Your OP linked the spirits to the place where dead bodies are kept. See why people associating spirits with the place where dead people are stored makes little to no sense?

Acidosis:
I want to write about my experience, but just thinking about it gives me chills. I can't.

Enlightened us

Kobojunkie:
Honestly, the claims made by various cultures regarding the existence of this supposed spirit world come off as a bit too arbitrary for anyone to want to take it seriously. Do dead people become spirits though? What reason exists for a spirit to wish to interact or associate with a dead body? Your OP linked the spirits to the place where dead bodies are kept. See why people associating spirits with the place where dead people are stored makes little to no sense?

They believe that dying makes one powerful and supernatural

A spirit world might just mean another realm

But I am sure that spirits are not dead bodies and that dead bodies are not spirits...

illicit:
■ They believe that dying makes one powerful and supernatural

If that is true, then why do people dread death and do everything to avoid it, particularly the poor and weak in this world? And what is the purpose of all of that power one acquires from dying?

illicit:
Pls do...

On the day my late wife was to be buried, just about a week after she passed, I went to the morgue with siblings, friends, and relatives. The mortician asked for someone to come and identify her body, which was already dressed for the lying-in-state, before she would be handed over to us. I jumped forward to do it without thinking because I had missed her. Everyone tried to stop me, but I insisted. When I went in, I saw her lying there as if asleep, dressed in a gown I had brought the day before. But she didn't fully look like the same woman I used to know. Reason is because she never slept on her back in that 'position.' The woman I knew would never sleep like because she loved "gum body" so much.

I can’t fully explain how I felt seeing her like that tbh. I didn’t feel the need to cry, crying was the least thing in my mind, maybe because I had already cried my heart out especially on the night she passed or because I had concluded in my heart that “nothing dey this life.” I went numb and maybe d u m b. No tears, no thoughts, nothing. I was just looking at her, but I was too shocked to fully process her condition.

Days, weeks, and even months have passed. There are still moments when I feel deeply sad and withdrawn, only to come out acting like I’m fine, but one thing that has remained consistent is how I feel about life now. I also have a deep sense of respect for people who take their relationship with God very seriously. It may be the only thing worth living for (by relationship with God, I do not mean idolising pastors or jumping from one prayer programme to another). I may have to write about this some other time.

Yes
On the day of my father’s funeral…I went in there because I’m the first son…I no get that heart.

I saw some other corpses too on the floor….Mehn this life
It is well

At the year 2022 I lost my close friend and flatmate...he died in a boat mishap.
When i visited the military Morgue, It was my first time i was up close to the dead body of a loved one. Due to the nature of his death, the body was swollen and had a foul smell, eyes and nose were missing. It was a frightening sight.
Prior to my visit at the morgue it was so difficult for me to sleep at night. The first night after my visit to the morgue, i had a dream and in that dream he was laughing at me saying "he heard me crying, that he was faking his death".... After that night i wasnt afraid anymore.

Early this year....I had a strange encounter on the staircase leading to our apartment. I could perceive the fragance of his favourite perfume, to be sure i called someone else to stand at thesame spot and the person confirmed same thing. That was some scary shxt

The people with fantastical stories about the dead are about to take over this thread😒

ruggedtimi:
■ At the year 2022 I lost my close friend and flatmate...he died in a boat mishap.
When i visited the military Morgue, It was my first time i was up close to the dead body of a loved one. Due to the nature of his death, the body was swollen and had a foul smell, eyes and nose were missing. It was a frightening sight.
Prior to my visit at the morgue it was so difficult for me to sleep at night. The first night after my visit to the morgue, he was laughing at me in my dream that he heard me crying. After that night i wasnt afraid anymore.
Early this year....I had a strange encounter on the staircase leading to our apartment. I could perceive the fragance of his favourite perfume, to be sure i called someone else to stand at thesame spot and the person confirmed same thing. That was some scary shxt

If the experience you had happened on a hot day, then there may be a simple explanation. It is quite possible that before he died, he may have gotten that scent spilled around that area from where the scent wafted towards you. As long as the smell has yet to be washed away, you should be able to go close to the same area again on another hot breezy day and experience the same smell.

I really can’t wait for more stories

Lamanii22:
I really can’t wait for more stories

Share yours nah...

Kobojunkie:
If the experience you had happened on a hot day, then there may be a simple explanation. It is quite possible that before he died, he may have gotten that scent spilled around that area from where the scent wafted towards you. As long as the smell has yet to be washed away, you should be able to go close to the same area again on another hot breezy day and experience the same smell.

the smell lasted for a couple of minutes. It was more like someone was standing on that spot. When i moved few inch from the spot i didnt perceive the fragrance.

ruggedtimi:
■ the smell lasted for a couple of minutes. It was more like someone was standing on that spot. When i moved few inch from the spot i didnt perceive the fragrance.

What you can do is go to the same area on a hot day and try to locate the exact spot from where the scent may be wafting up.

Temperature plays a significant role in how we perceive a fragrance. In hot weather, a perfume's evaporation rate increases, causing the top and middle notes to be more dominant. This phenomenon can make a perfume appear more potent in the summer than it does in the winter.

🤔

Acidosis:
On the day my late wife was to be buried, just about a week after she passed, I went to the morgue with siblings, friends, and relatives. The mortician asked for someone to come and identify her body, which was already dressed for the lying-in-state, before she would be handed over to us. I jumped forward to do it without thinking because I had missed her. Everyone tried to stop me, but I insisted. When I went in, I saw her lying there as if asleep, dressed in a gown I had brought the day before. But she didn't fully look like the same woman I used to know. Reason is because she never slept on her back in that 'position.' The woman I knew would never sleep like because she loved "gum body" so much.

I can’t fully explain how I felt seeing her like that tbh. I didn’t feel the need to cry, crying was the least thing in my mind, maybe because I had already cried my heart out especially on the night she passed or because I had concluded in my heart that “nothing dey this life.” I went numb and maybe d u m b. No tears, no thoughts, nothing. I was just looking at her, but I was too shocked to fully process her condition.

Days, weeks, and even months have passed. There are still moments when I feel deeply sad and withdrawn, only to come out acting like I’m fine, but one thing that has remained consistent is how I feel about life now. I also have a deep sense of respect for people who take their relationship with God very seriously. It may be the only thing worth living for (by relationship with God, I do not mean idolising pastors or jumping from one prayer programme to another). I may have to write about this some other time.

May her soul RIP
But I thought there was a supernatural experience you had that you wanted to tell us about, having said earlier that spirits did exist?

illicit:
When my dad died

His body was returned to his hometown. Because he was believed to be attacked spiritually by unknown enemies. Yoruba call them Aye (world) and their potent tool is Ofa (invisible Arrow)

So he wasn't taken to the morgue. His brothers, nephews and male cousins laid him on a bed in his old room. Cleaned and dressed him up in his favorite dress. Then I was summoned as one of his two boys and his last child.

I witnessed them putting a matchet that was wrapped with red linen in his hand and chanting incantations that he shouldnt slumber, he must find his killers and cut them down.

I was maybe 9 but I know that they were just being poetic and dramatic, that is personification of a corpse. A dead man can not use a matchet. Only a living person would.
If a spiritual world exists I doubt if he would need a matchete to bring anybody down. I believed that they were confused but they were very serious.

When he was being buried. These same relatives were there and a reverend was officiating and they were reciting the bible passages and singing hymns that he should rest and praying and saying Amen.

The reverend probably didn't know that there was a matchete in the coffin.

It's amazing how Nigerians(if not all Africans) believe their fellow humans have some spiritual/supernatural powers to kill others remotely

No one has such powers and anyone who manages to possess a little of it will rule this world and have all of us, including the politicians, at his beck and call

I remember while still living at Surulere, was told my gym instructor died. Went to check him up at the morgue, I think I was around 22 then, with all the chest and muscles wey full this guy body he was just laying down there gone. Don't know but heard he was poisoned or something. Omoh I just weak that day. I know fit sleep throughout that night, food sef hard to chop. Imagine someone so huge, so much muscles and packs laying naked and gone. Nawa o.

Sometimes,if you really ponder over these things.we would realize that this worldly life is nothing but a sheer delusion.
Death await each and every one of us.if you want to know a living person that have fully understand this,visit a patient with terminal illness having few months to live and talk to him about dreams of having big houses, luxury cars among others.Nothing in this life is truly worth comprising your relationship with Allah
.-'Kulli nafsin za ikatul maut':Indeed all souls shall taste death.
.