Questionable Deaths, Abia shuts down Merry-home Hotels

The Abia State Government has sealed off a hotel in Aba, the state capital, Merry-home Hotels Limited, located around 7up axis of Ogbor Hill following a series of allegations of criminal activities taking place on the hotel premises.

Briefing newsmen in Aba after the exercise, the state Commissioner for Information, Dr Eze Chikamnayo, said the seal off was in view of “repeated reports to security agencies about a series of deaths under questionable circumstances within the premises of the hotel”.

According to Chikamnayo, the recent one is the death of a young lady who came in with two young boys and a baby in the afternoon and as confirmed by the CCTV, the boys left with the baby in the evening without the lady only for the hotel management to break into the room around midnight and found the lady dead with her body dismembered.

The Commissioner revealed that reports available to the state government disclosed that there have been other incidents of death that have taken place in the hotel, especially around the swimming pool.

Chikamnayo re-emphasised the determination of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu-led administration to get rid of all development that will pose a threat to the lives of Abians and its residents stressing that no responsible government would fold its arms and watch such a hotspot of crime crop up.

He further disclosed that everyone suspected to be involved in the incident had been arrested as the case had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, for investigation while the hotel will remain sealed pending the time of the outcome of the investigation.

The Commissioner warned that the state is a no-go area for ritual murders and dismemberment of people’s bodies for any purpose and has zero-tolerance for any form of incubation and growth of criminality, pointing out that any hotel in the state that offers itself for such practice will automatically be sealed and culprits brought to book.

He frowned at the presence of over 80 teenagers who were in compromising conditions in the hotel, indulging in anti-social and criminal activities and advised parents to take full monitoring of their children’s movements, while pointing out that the welfare of the citizens remained the priority of the state.

The Chief of Staff to the Governor, Chief Okey Ahiwe, the Commissioner for Homeland Security, Sopuruchi Bekee, and other security chiefs were part of the exercise. (Saturday PUNCH)