Gunmen kill Kwara hotelier

Hoodlums, suspected to be cult members, reportedly shot and killed the manager of a hotel in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, on Thursday night.

The victim, identified as Anthony Balogun, was managing the hotel owned by his mother before the tragic incident occurred.

According to sources, the incident happened around 8:00 p.m. at the hotel located in the Olunlade area of Ilorin. It was gathered that two armed men entered the hotel premises and asked to see the manager.

Believing they were prospective customers, the deceased came out of his room to meet them at the reception.

The assailants then lured him outside the reception area and shot him at close range in the chest.

Afterwards, they reportedly attacked him with machetes, inflicting severe injuries on his head, hands, and legs.

Speaking to our correspondent, the elder sister of the deceased, who wished to remain anonymous, recounted her last communication with him: “He called me around 6:30 p.m., and at about 7:00 p.m., he tried to pass on some information. I was in the kitchen, so I asked one of my children to take the call, intending to call him back later.

“When I called him back at 8:00 p.m., his phone was switched off. After several attempts, I received a call from his wife, asking me to come to the Kwara State General Hospital, now Kwara State University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin. It was there that I found his lifeless body, badly mutilated.”

A source at the Ganmo Divisional Police Station, where the case was reported, described the incident as a possible homicide.

However, efforts to reach the state police command’s Public Relations Officer, Toun Ejire-Adeyemi, for confirmation have so far been unsuccessful.

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