Girlfriend Flees As Boyfriend Dies In Lagos Hotel

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.
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.
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 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 vi c t im’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.
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 kids 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.”
Our correspondent learnt that the matter was transferred
to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.
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.
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 cleanup 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.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Joe Offor, when
contacted, promised to get back to our correspondent, but
he had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report