There has been anxiety at the Jonaith
Hotel and Suites in the Ajah area of Lagos State after a 24-year-old
guest, identified as Michael Afeso, was found dead in his room.
Hotel and Suites in the Ajah area of Lagos State after a 24-year-old
guest, identified as Michael Afeso, was found dead in his room.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the deceased’s girlfriend, who had stayed with him on Friday evening, was sighted in the early hours of Saturday.
She was, however, said to have fled the
hotel before the arrival of policemen from the Ajah division, who later
took the corpse to a mortuary.
hotel before the arrival of policemen from the Ajah division, who later
took the corpse to a mortuary.
Our correspondent gathered that Michael,
an indigene of Akoko Edo, Edo State, had checked into a room in the
hotel on Friday and had enjoyed some bottles of beer with a friend,
identified as Abass
an indigene of Akoko Edo, Edo State, had checked into a room in the
hotel on Friday and had enjoyed some bottles of beer with a friend,
identified as Abass
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It was learnt that Abass left the deceased in the company with a lady, whom the latter had sent for.
The corpse of the victim was said to have been discovered by one of the hotel workers, who had gone to his room at checkout.
PUNCH Metro learnt from a relative of the deceased, Olufemi Oladejo, that the family was notified by one of Michael’s friends.
Oladejo said,
“When we got there, the management of the hotel told us they found the girl in their CCTV tip-toeing out.“When we challenged them on why they did
not stop her since they both checked in together, they changed the
story and said the video was of another room and that it had nothing to
do with the case.“The hotel management said one Abass,
who was their customer, reserved the room for Michael. We were told that
they both took some bottles of beer before Abass left. They said
Michael was alone in his room before they saw his corpse.”
The victim’s father, Abraham, explained
that he was expecting his son to send him some money for upkeep and a
project, when he was told he had died.
that he was expecting his son to send him some money for upkeep and a
project, when he was told he had died.
He said, “My other children who had been
aware of the incident could not break the news to me because I was
sick. Instead, they informed my friend, who called me to his house and
broke the sad news to me.“The hotel management and the police
have been dribbling us and telling us all kinds of lies. Even our lawyer
was compromised and he has stopped picking my calls. I insisted that
the matter be transferred from Ajah because I lost confidence in the
police in that division.”
However, the result of the autopsy indicated that the victim died of heart attack and hypertension.
Still, the family of the deceased
insisted that the case had been tampered with and urged the Inspector
General of Police, Solomon Arase, to conduct investigation into the
matter.
insisted that the case had been tampered with and urged the Inspector
General of Police, Solomon Arase, to conduct investigation into the
matter.
The hotel lawyer, Akran Akra, in a telephone interview with PUNCH Metro, denied that the hotel covered up anything.
He said, “There was no time that the
hotel changed any story. We gave the police and the deceased’s family
unlimited access to our IT rooms on several occasions.“The girl and the man did not go in together. She came in later as a visitor.“The fact of the case is that Michael
checked into the hotel on the night of Friday, October 23, 2015. The
room he checked into had earlier been reserved for him by one of his
friends, who checked in earlier the same day.“His friends, who were with him that
night, confirmed that on arrival at the hotel, the deceased joined them
at the pool bar where they all had drinks together before retiring to
his hotel room to meet his girlfriend, who he was expecting.“At about 12.15pm the next day, one of
the hotel’s housekeepers, who was carrying out a routine clean-up at
checkout found the lifeless body of Michael on the bed.”He said the hotel management immediately alerted the police.“There was no complicity on the part of
the hotel. The food that was served by the chef was not eaten by the
deceased. The CCTV footage did not indicate a foul play,” he added.