The recent news of a middle-aged man who died in a hotel in the commercial city of Onitsha after having sex with his girlfriend on January 30 may not be completely true as fresh facts have emerged on the circumstance surrounding the death.

The deceased, Onyemaechi Idoko, an Onitsha-based businessman, was said to have been lured to Jubilee Hotel by a yet-to-be-identified female, who was well known to him, to be killed.

Speaking to News Express on condition of anonymity, one of the members of staff of the hotel revealed that the unknown woman had arrived the hotel earlier before the deceased and engaged their manager in private conversation for hours.

She said: “I was not around when the incident happened but I was told that the woman arrived and engaged our Manager in a private conversation for hours before the coming of the man.

“When the man came, as they said, he paid for Room Ten and went straight to the room alongside with the woman and in less than 14 minutes, the woman came back to call our Manager that the man was behaving strange.

“As the Manager rushed to find out what was the problem, he said that the man was holding his chest, demanding for sachet water.

“It was then that the woman pretending as if she was going to buy the sachet water disappeared, leaving the hotel management to bear the whole brunt.”

Efforts to speak with the Manager failed as he was said to have gone to report at the Central Police Station (CPS) as directed when the was granted bail hours after he was arrested.

It was gathered that the deceased recently contested for the chairmanship position of his Mellon line in Ose Market, Onitsha, and won but the opposing group was allegedly not comfortable with him taking over the leadership of the market line.

When contacted, one of the brothers to the alleged slain man (names withheld) said their brother left his shop at Ose Market at about 17.00hrs and 12 minutes later, his wife got a call, directing her to come to Zenith Bank within New Market Road, Onitsha, over the state of her husband, “only for the woman to go out and behold her husband lying lifeless.”

Meanwhile, the family of the deceased has petitioned the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, demanding for a thorough investigation and justice over the mysterious death of their son.

Counsel to the family, Stanley Duo of Eze Umeadi Chambers, Onitsha, in a petition dated 1st February, 2020 said that contrary to the news earlier released to the media that the deceased died while on a sex romp with an unidentified lady in the hotel, evidence abounds that he was actually set up and killed.

According to him, the deceased left his shop at Ose Okwuodu Market Onitsha by 5pm same day and a call came from his cell phone 12 minutes later to ask his wife to come and identify his husband’s corpse around Obanye/New Market Road.

The petitioner further said: “When the brother to the deceased, Chigozie Idoko and others rushed to the place the caller who was using the deceased phone directed them to come; he met his brother’s lifeless body downstairs at the hotel frontage fully clad in his clothes and not naked.

“The manager of the hotel could not give any meaningful explanation on the whereabouts of the woman who lured the deceased to the hotel.

“There were injuries on the lips of the deceased while blood gushed out from his nose up till the time he was deposited at the mortuary on January 30; and even 31st when the brother went back to check on him in the morgue.

“It was further discovered that the screen of the deceased phones were immediately cracked by his assailants, making them blank and difficult to see his call log, while the police officers who were invited to the hotel by the manager hastily released the Manager without proper investigation.

“Manager of the hotel identified as Osita when contacted on phone said he cannot talk unless on the permission of his lawyer.”

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Haruna Mohammed, said that the result of the autopsy report on the deceased is still being awaited.

Update news