The Ebonyi State Police Command on Sunday said it had discovered the body of a yet-to-be identified woman in a hotel room in Abakaliki, the state capital.
According to the command’s spokesperson, DSP Loveth Odah, who confirmed the development to our correspondent on Sunday, the woman’s corpse was discovered at the Crown Garden Hotel, located along Afikpo Road in the capital city.
She said the woman had deep cuts on the chest and neck, and had been deposited in a mortuary.
Odah, who said that the victim was found in a pool of her own blood, said one Uchenna Awoke had been identified as the suspect.
According to her, the manager of the hotel, Mr Emmanuel Eze, and other workers had been taken to the police station for interrogation and accused the hotel management of negligence.
Odah stated, “The manager of the hotel, the supervisor and other workers of the hotel were taken to the station for questioning and I must confess to you that the whole thing is negligence on the part of the hotel management. How can a guest be murdered in a hotel room and days after, the management was not aware of the incident?
“We will investigate the matter properly and I assure you, the perpetrator(s) of the act must be arrested and prosecuted. All we are asking is for the members of the public to avail the police of useful information that will lead to the arrest of the suspect.”
One of the customers of the hotel, Mr Sylvester Oduma, whose complaint led to the discovery of the corpse, narrated what happened to our correspondent on the telephone.
He stated, “I arrived at the hotel on Sunday, paid for a suite and checked into the hotel only to perceive an unpleasant odour oozing out of the next room, which became unbearable.
“I quickly drew the attention of the management of the hotel to the unpleasant odour and they opened the door and found the lifeless body of a fair lady in the room. Possibly, she was stabbed to death by her supposed boyfriend identified as Uchenna Awoke.
“Immediately, the police were contacted and a team of officers arrived at the scene. The policemen immediately arrested all the management officials and staff of the hotel and took them away. The policemen evacuated the corpse and deposited it in a morgue.”
Oduma noted that the suspect was also said to have made away with all the belongings of the deceased, including her phone, so that he could not be tracked.
The hotel manager, one Mr Eze, said he had been away for three days when the incident took place.
He said that as soon as he was contacted, he immediately called the police, who went and evacuated the corpse from the hotel room.
“I was on a three-day journey when the incident took place but as soon as I was informed, I also informed the police, who immediately went to the scene and evacuated the body of the lady. Upon my arrival in Abakaliki, I was invited by the police but after making a statement, I was granted bail,” he added.
According to him, the murder may not be for ritual purposes as the victim’s vital organs were still intact when the body corpse was evacuated from the hotel.
“Every business has its own challenges; this is one of the hazards of the hotel business. I thank God that as of today, none of my staff members has been linked to the gruesome murder,” he said.
