From Tony John, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Police Command has confirmed the death of a man simply identified as Ken in a hotel (name withheld) in Khana Street, D-Line, Port Harcourt on Sunday.
State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Grace Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police (SP), disclosed this to journalists who had contacted her over the incident which occurred after the deceased had booked a hotel room on Saturday night.
She said a staff of the hotel came to make a report about the sudden death of the guest at Olu-Obansijo Police Division and the DPO with some detectives went to the hotel, where photographs and preliminary investigation were carried out.
Iringe-Koko said the corpse of the man had been retrieved by the Police while investigation was ongoing.
Meanwhile, it could not be ascertained if the deceased lodged in the hotel with a guest.
Speaking on the incident, a human rights advocate, Prince Wiro, of Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, said information available to him suggested that the hotel did not have a functional CCTV camera and properly check-in procedure.
Mr Wiro said that is the area he wants the Police to look at.
Wiro, who wants Police to look into check-in procedures of various hotel managements, noted that many hotels and guest houses in Rivers State were not adhering to the operation directives stipulated by the State Government after the era of serial killings of women in hotels and guest houses in Rivers.
He said the 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 prodecures.
According to the activist, 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.