Man flees as lover dies in Lagos hotel

 

The police in Lagos State have launched a manhunt for a man suspected to have murdered his lover at a hotel on Prince Adeyemi Street, Ikotun, Lagos.

It was learnt that the suspect, whose name had yet to be ascertained, had lodged in a room in the hotel – Taola Hotel – with his girlfriend around 9.30pm on Friday.

He was said to have paid for one hour which was supposed to elapse around 10.30pm.

Workers of the facility, however, became worried when it was 12am and the guests did not check out of the hotel.

The manager of the hotel, identified only as Ahmadu, was said to have gone to check the room only to discover that the woman was dead, while the suspect had fled.

Ahmadu reported the case at the Ikotun Police Division, while the remains of the victim were deposited in a morgue.

A resident of the area, Jibola Adesina, said no one could explain how the suspect escaped from the hotel.

He said, “The police came to remove the corpse. No one can say how the man managed to escape from the hotel because it has only one entrance.”

Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the man had said he wanted to buy something outside the hotel and fled afterwards, adding that the management suspected something was wrong when he did not return.

“I learnt from one of the workers in the hotel that the man came out of the room around 10pm. He said he wanted to buy something outside. He left, but did not return. It was when they waited in vain for his lover to step out that they decided to go into the room. She was found dead,” he said.

A worker of the hotel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told our correspondent during a visit to the area on Sunday that the incident “shook everyone”.

He said the lovers had come to have “a nice time”, adding that their details were not collected because they did not have the intention of passing the night.

He said, “It was unfortunate. They just came to spend a short time together. That was why their details were not taken. The case was reported to the police.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the police were investigating the incident.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command has begun investigations into the sudden death of a hotel worker, identified as Ifunanya Eke.

Our correspondent gathered that Eke was found dead in a room last Tuesday at the Top Suite Hotel and Kitchen on Tunde Odeyemi Street, Ikotun.

The hotel management was said to have reported the case at the Ikotun Police Division.

A police source said only an autopsy would determine the true cause of her death.

He said, “We were called to the incident by the management of the hotel. They said the woman had been working with them for some time and she retired into her room because she was on night duty. By morning, they discovered that she didn’t come out of the room and when the door was opened, they saw that she was dead.”

The PPRO, Badmos, said policemen from the Ikotun division examined and photographed the scene, adding that there were no violent marks on the corpse.

She said, “It is a case of sudden and unnatural death. The woman, Ifunanya Eke, was a worker with Top Suit Hotel and Kitchen. She was allegedly found dead in a room at the hotel where she slept that night.

“A team of police detectives attached to the Ikotun division visited, examined and photographed the scene. There was no trace of violence on her body.”