Man dies in Rivers hotel, activist calls for CCTV footage

<p>A middle-aged man simply identified as Ken was said to have been found dead in his room while lodging in a hotel in the D/Line area of Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital.</p>, <p>Ken was said to have checked into the hotel on Saturday while his lifeless body was discovered on Sunday.</p>, <p>The circumstances surrounding his death were not clear as of press time.</p>, <p>A staff member of the hotel was said to have reported the matter to a nearby police station from where detectives were drafted to the scene.</p>, <p>When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident, saying the investigation is ongoing.</p>, <p>Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, said operatives had been to the hotel and the body deposited in a mortuary.</p>, <p>“Yes, we are aware of the incident and the man’s corpse has been retrieved. Our men took photographs and a preliminary investigation was done.</p>, <p>“Investigation is still ongoing to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the death as well as the circumstances,” she said.</p>, <p>Meanwhile, the National Coordinator of the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, Prince Wiro, has called on the state government to set up a task force to enforce the installation and the use of CCTV cameras in hotels and guest houses to improve security.</p>, <p>He said, “Investigations showed that many hotels are not complying with check-in procedures stipulated by the state government sometime in 2018 and 2019 when there were issues of serial killing of young girls in some hotels in the state.</p>, <p>“The essence of complying with check-in procedure, for instance having CCTV camera, log-in register and so on is that if there are issues, it will be easy for the police to investigate.”</p>, <p>“I think the Rivers State Government, through the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, should set up a task force to begin to monitor the level of compliance by hotels and guest houses as regards check-in procedures.”</p>