From Okey Sampson, Aba
A middle-aged man was found dead inside a hotel room in Aba, Abia state, at the weekend, making it the second of such deaths in less than one month in the commercial city.
The man identified as Mr. Peter Ibekwe was said to have on the fateful day told his wife he was travelling to Umuahia, the Abia State capital, on a business trip.
It was gathered that the deceased who resided in the Ogbor Hill area of the city, instead of travelling to Umuahia as he was alleged to have told the wife, went and lodged in a hotel located on Club 25 road, Abayi Aba in Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia State.
The late Ibekwe who was said to have checked into the hotel at about 7:30pm the previous night, was however, found dead the next day in his room.
The deceased was said to have been found dead the following morning, when cleaners in the hotel went to tidy his room and initial attempts to open the door proved abortive.
“It was after initial efforts failed that some workers of the hotel forced the door open only to see the lifeless body of Mr. Ibekwe. The hotel management informed the police about the incident. The man’s relations were equally contacted before his body was taken from the hotel to the mortuary”, a source said.
The source who craved anonymity equally said that the sum of N200, 000 was found on the man when police from Abayi Division conducted a search on the corpse.
There is no official report yet as to the cause of the man’s death, though a source close to the police told Sunday Sun that autopsy would soon be carried out to ascertain the cause of his death.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, ASP Ogbonnaya Nta could not be reached for comments.
But a senior police officer who confirmed the incident said investigation into the matter had already commenced, adding that the outcome of the investigation would be made public.