People can no longer rest in peace – Shehu Sani reacts as Enugu taxes dead bodies

The Enugu State Government recently imposed a daily tax on dead bodies in mortuaries across the state and human rights activist and former member of the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has reacted to the decision of the state.

The Enugu State Internal Revenue Service (ESIRS) recently dispatched a Mortuary Tax circular to all morticians operating in the state, announcing a ₦40 daily tax on each dead body.

The ESIRS’ directive aligned with the provisions of section 34 of the Birth, Deaths and Burials Law Cap 15 Revised Laws of Enugu State 2004.

“The sum of ₦40.00 only is to be paid by owners of a corpse once it was not buried within twenty-four hours. The amount continues to count daily.

“Kindly ensure that owners of corpses make the payments before collection of the corpses for burial and then remit the same to the ESIRS in any commercial bank under the mortuary tax in Enugu State IGR Account,” the circular partly reads.

Earlier, the Executive Chairman of ESIRS, Emmanuel Nnamani, explained that the Mortuary Tax was imposed to spur the government’s revenue generation drive.

He noted that the tax was in line with the state Mortuary Tax Law which had existed for years, adding that it was not new to the state.

The ESIRS chairman clarified that the mortuary tax was ₦40 daily only as against ₦40,000.

He added, “It is an indirect tax paid by mortuary owners, not deceased family and it is just N40, not N40,000. Since its introduction, nobody has been denied burying their dead ones.”