Woman, two hotel staff arrested after man dies in Abuja hotel

A woman, identified as Mrs Rukayat Mohammed, and two staff members of a guest house in Abuja have been arrested over the death of a man whose body was allegedly dumped under Katampe Bridge along the Kubwa Expressway.

The incident occurred at Good Samaritan Guest House in Gwarimpa, where Mohammed and the deceased had reportedly checked in together.

According to an account of the incident, the man slumped and died while returning from the restroom.

Mohammed allegedly took his phone and left the room instead of raising the alarm immediately.

Two hotel workers, identified as Ibrahim Omeiza and Kefat Bitrus, reportedly became suspicious when the occupants failed to check out at the scheduled time.

They forced the door open and found the man’s lifeless body on the floor. The workers allegedly removed the body and dumped it under Katampe Bridge rather than alerting the police.

The deceased’s family later reported him missing, prompting a police investigation.

Detectives reportedly traced the man’s last phone communication to Mohammed through technical investigations. She was subsequently tracked down and arrested.

During questioning, Mohammed said the deceased had been experiencing health challenges and was taking medication.

In a video obtained by reporters, she explained that the man collapsed after using the restroom.

She said, “I went to a hotel with a man, and he slumped and died.”

Explaining how the incident happened, Mohammed said, “He went to the restroom to urinate. As he was returning, he slumped and died.”

When asked whether the man had taken any drugs, she initially denied that he had taken any. However, she acknowledged that he had been ill and later confirmed that he was on medication.

She also said the man had received treatment at the National Hospital.

Mohammed explained that she went outside with his phone after he collapsed, hoping to find one of his contacts to inform them about the incident.

She said, “I took his phone outside to see if I could find any of his contacts and inform them that something had happened to him.”

She added that she could not access his contacts on the device.

The circumstances surrounding the man’s death remain unclear. The available account did not establish the nature of his health challenges or the cause of death.

Efforts to obtain comments from the spokesperson for the Federal Capital Territory Police Command, Josephine Adeh, were unsuccessful. She reportedly neither answered calls nor responded to a message seeking comments and an update on the incident.