Neighbours of a woman, who died last Friday in a hotel in Ikotun, Lagos State, have opened up on what transpired shortly before her death.
They said the deceased, who was identified only as Iya Ginika, had left home around 9pm on the day, telling her husband that she wanted to visit a friend in the neighbourhood.
The residents told our correspondent on Tuesday that the woman, in her 50s, had claimed that she wanted to collect something from the friend.
They added that they were shocked when news filtered in that she was found dead in Taola Hotel on Prince Adeyemi Street, Ikotun.
The deceased lived on K & S Street, Abaranje Road – a few kilometres from the hotel.
PUNCH Metro had reported on Monday that the woman and her lover had stayed in the hotel around 9.30pm on Friday and paid to spend an hour.
However, workers of the hotel became apprehensive when it was 12am the following day and the lovers did not check out.
One of the workers was said to have entered the room to discover that the woman was dead while her lover had fled.
The case was reported to the police at the Ikotun division.
A neighbour of the deceased told PUNCH Metro on Tuesday that she had lied to her husband, identified simply as Henry, that she wanted to visit a friend who lived on Prince Adeyemi Street.
The neighbour, who did not want her name in print, said she was shocked when she learnt that the woman died in the hotel.
She said, “Around 9pm on Friday, she told her husband that she wanted to visit a friend on the street where the hotel is located. The husband and her children became confused when she did not return.
“It was the following day when the news of her death was broken that the husband realised he had lied to him. She was about 50 years old.
“Her husband is a motorcyclist and he tries his best to provide for the family. She used to run a lotto shop but later stopped. She sold fish and soup ingredients before her death,” he added.
When contacted, the deceased’s husband, Henry, who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, said she would be buried later this month. He, however, declined comments when asked where her late wife told him he was going on the day.
“She suffered from high blood pressure before her death. We will bury her later this month,” he said.
But the deceased’s daughter, who collected the phone from her father, said the family did not want to dwell on the incident in order to protect its image.
“We don’t want to be discussing this matter. We have our future to protect and we don’t want the incident to destroy the image of the family. Please, don’t call this number again,” she added.
The Lagos State Police Command spokesperson, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the police were still on the trail of the fleeing lover.
