Following a series of allegations of criminal activity on the hotel premises, the Abia State Government has sealed off Merry-home Hotels Limited in Aba, the state capital. Merry-home Hotels Limited is located around the 7up axis of Ogbor Hill.
Dr Eze Chikamnayo, the state Commissioner for Information, told reporters in Aba after the exercise that the seal off was prompted by “multiple allegations to security authorities concerning a succession of deaths under suspicious circumstances within the premises of the hotel.”
According to information available to the state administration, there have been previous occurrences of mortality in the hotel, particularly around the swimming pool.
Chikamnayo re-emphasised the Governor Okezie Ikpeazu-led administration’s intention to eliminate all development that will endanger the lives of Abians and residents, emphasizing that no responsible government would stand by and watch such a crime hotspot emerge.
He went on to say that everyone suspected of being involved in the incident had been arrested, and that the case had been turned over to the State Criminal Inquiry Department for further investigation, while the hotel would stay closed until the investigation was completed.
The Commissioner warned that the state is a no-go zone for ritual murders and dismemberment of people’s bodies for any reason, and that it has zero tolerance for any form of criminal incubation and growth, noting that any hotel in the state that offers itself for such practices will be sealed and the perpetrators prosecuted.
He expressed his displeasure with the presence of over 80 teenagers in compromising conditions in the hotel, engaging in anti-social and criminal activities, and advised parents to keep a close eye on their children’s movements, while emphasizing that the state’s priority remained the welfare of its citizens.
The exercise included the Governor’s Chief of Staff, Chief Okey Ahiwe, the Commissioner for Homeland Security, Sopuruchi Bekee, and other security chiefs.
