*Police confirms death, unclear if he checked in with a Guest
Daniel Efe/Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Police Command has confirmed the death of a man simply identified as Ken in a hotel (namewitheld) in Khana street, D-line, Port Harcourt, on Sunday morning after he booked a room on Saturday night.
The Spokesperson for the command, SP Grace Iringe Koko responding to enquiry by our reporter on the incident, said a Staff of the hotel came to make a report about the sudden death of a guest at Olu-Obasanjo Police Division, Port Harcourt and the DPO with some detectives went to the hotel, where photographs and preliminary Investigation was carried out.
SP Koko said the corpse of the man has been retrieved by the Police, while investigation is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the circumstances leading to his death is not clear. It is also not certain if the deceased lodged in the hotel with a Guest or not.
However, speaking on the tragic incident, a Human Rights Advocate, Prince Wiro, of Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign said information available to him suggest that the hotel do not have a functional Close Circuit Television, CCTV Camera and properly check-in procedure.
Mr. Wiro suggested that that is the area he wants the Police to look at during investigations.
Mr. Wiro noted that his investigation has shown that many hotels and Guest Houses in Rivers State are not adhering to check-in procedures as stipulated by the Rivers State Government sometimes in 2018/2019 during the era when there was a serial killer, killing women in hotels and guest houses.
Mr. Wiro said the Rivers State Government through the Ministry of Culture and Tourism should set up a Task Force to monitor the level of compliance by hotels and Guest houses as regards to check-in procedures.
Mr. Wiro noted that the absence of proper check-in procedures in hotels and guest houses makes it difficult for the Police and other relevant security agencies to carry out proper investigation when a crime occurs in such places.