Police to seal hotels, guest houses where women get killed in Rivers

Concerned and convinced that a serial women killer has been on the prowl in Rivers State, the police have threatened to seal hotels or guest houses where fresh incidents are recorded.

Rivers State Commissioner of Police (CP), Mustapha Dandaura, disclosed that the police have arrested a man who called a young girl on her cell phone and tried to lure her to a hotel in Port Harcourt yesterday.

He issued the warning while briefing newsmen on measures put in place by the Rivers State government, Police, Department of State Services (SSS) and hoteliers to curb serial killings of girls in hotels across the state in the past two months.

He explained that a task force comprising representatives of the Police, DSS, Rivers State government headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (AIG) in charge of Operations, Olumese Val, has commenced enforcement of guidelines issued to hoteliers to install closed circuit televisions (CCTVs) in reception and corridors of hotel rooms.

He stated that the police have already sealed two hotels where two girls were murdered in Omoku and Port Harcourt last week, adding that the managers and receptionists who were on duty when the incident took place have been arrested.

Dandaura disclosed that eight women have been reported strangled to death in different hotels in Rivers State in the last two months.

To this end, he advised owners of hotels and guest houses to discourage lodgers who book rooms in their facility for only two or three hours.

“Eight women were strangled to death in different hotel rooms. The same mode of operation was applied in the killings. That is after drugging the women the suspect will now strangulate them to death.

“Because if the women were not drugged, there is no way they could not have raise alarm while being strangled. So, the serial killer normally drugs his victims and thereafter, he strangles them.

“And we also discovered that after the killings, a white cloth material is rolled on the victims’ necks or waists. So, there is an element of cultism in all the killings in the hotels that have taken place,” he added.

Dandaura said a girl reported in one of the police stations in Port Harcourt that a strange man called her repeatedly to meet him in a particular spot and offered to pay her N30,000.

“Immediately, the DPO in charge of Elekehia, trailed the caller who was later arrested the same night at a location where the girl told the man to meet her. So far, he said the suspect has given the police useful information that will help its investigation into the serial killings in the state,” he said.