Calabar hotel death: Police publish photo, appeal for help identifying victim

CALABAR — Cross River State Police have released a photograph of an unidentified woman found dead under suspicious circumstances in a hotel on Clifford Street, Calabar South.

The Command appeals to the public for help identifying her and tracking down the male companion she had checked in with.

ValidViewNetwork can confirm that the case was first reported to police on the morning of September 8, when the hotel’s director, manager and receptionist alerted the Command after the woman was found unresponsive in Room 2.

According to reports gotten by ValidViewNetwork, the unidentified male guest had checked into the hotel with the woman at about 8pm the previous night, but was allegedly not properly documented at check-in, a lapse that has since complicated efforts to trace him.

Investigators who visited the scene found what police described as marks of violence on the woman’s face and neck.

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A recurring vulnerability in short-stay hotels

Findings show that cases of guests vanishing after a companion is found dead or unresponsive in Nigerian hotel rooms are not new, and have repeatedly exposed the same weak link.

Guest registers are poorly kept or not checked at all. Police in similar past cases across the country have had to rely on hotel CCTV, staff testimony and, as in this case, public appeals rather than proper identity records to pursue suspects.

Where the investigation stands

ValidViewNetwork gathered that the hotel receptionist on duty was taken into custody to assist investigations, while tablets recovered from the deceased’s handbag have been secured as exhibits. The Police stresses that link between the tablets and her death has yet been established. The Command has urged anyone who recognises the woman in the released photograph to come forward. ValidViewNetwork reports.