Family of lady beaten to death in Anambra hotel alleges cover-up

<p>Family members of a lady, Chinyere Awuda, who was allegedly beaten to death and her corpse dumped by a swimming pool at Cosmila Hotel, Awka Anambra State on July 16 have cried foul over alleged conspiracy by the police and the hotel management.</p>, <p>The deceased’s family led by her father, Patrick, who was represented by Rigota Chambers, alleged a cover-up.</p>, <p>They have therefore asked the state Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, to thoroughly investigate the death.</p>, <p>The deceased was said to have been attacked by partygoers who were celebrating a friend’s birthday at the hotel.</p>, <p>But the hotel claimed that Awuda stole from the partygoers, ran out of the club and mistakenly fell into the abandoned pool.</p>, <p>But the family insisted that she had bruises on her body when she was removed from the pool and that police stopped the family from taking pictures of the corpse.</p>, <p>The lawyers, acting on behalf of the family in the petition, wrote, “The inability of the hotel management to provide a comprehensive CCTV video of what happened, both inside the club where the beating started and outside the club where the actual murder occurred left more questions to be answered and uncovered.</p>, <p>“The investigating officer at the B Division, the suspects and the hotel management were coaxing the deceased family members to accept settlement prior to the conclusion of the investigation.</p>, <p>“We therefore humbly pray that you use your good office to direct a thorough investigation of the crime and the suspects.”</p>, <p>Following the development, the state government ordered the closure of the hotel pending the conclusion of an investigation into the matter.</p>, <p>But when our correspondent visited the hotel on Tuesday, he observed activities were going on at the facility.</p>, <p>The hotel, in a statement signed by the Awka Branch Manager, Mr Stanley Akuneziri, said the deceased was not beaten to death and dumped in the swimming pool as had been claimed by the family and a section of