Is Burying at Home Advisable?

In Nigeria, it is common to find graves at residential compounds or inside houses. 

While this may allow you to observe tradition, save more money and eliminate the middleman; home burials bring complications. 

For instance, how would you feel if you walked into a house and are told that the remains of its owner is beneath your feet?

There are environmental and health risks involved too. A dead body decomposing in the earth could taint well water with toxins. 

Reasons For Home Burials

Some people consider burying their loved ones in public cemeteries as a dishonourable and disrespectful thing to do. 

Parents in their old age may have chosen to be buried at home. Such directives are implemented to the latter. 

Sometimes when the deceased are buried within the compound, it is because of a desire to always see them as part of the family.

Burying a loved one outside in some cultures, implies that they’re being casted away or that they died a bad death.

Land scarcity: used graves were often dug up to accommodate more bodies. 

Inefficient public cemeteries.

Why Home Burials Are Not Advisable

Firstly, it is for the single sake of hygiene and the fact that we live in a modernized society.

Section 246 of the Criminal Code, applicable in Southern Nigeria, does not allow for burying loved ones in residential properties without the consent of the President or Governor. 

These shows that there are dangers involved in performing home burials without having the knowledge base or necessary equipment to handle the dead body. 

Moreso, the greatest problem you may ever encounter is selling a house with a grave in the grounds. You would have even freaked out your neighbours first by organising the burial. 

A home burial will reduce the property value of the house. If indeed you find a buyer, the future owners may refuse you or your loved ones right of access to the grave. 

Government redevelopment projects may also affect the house and grave. 

Handling dead bodies is what we have been trained to do at Omega Funeral Home. If you have any questions and are in need of help, do not hesitate to contact us as soon as possible!