Suspected sex worker found dead in Onitsha hotel

A suspected commercial sex worker, on Monday died in a hotel along an old market road in Onitsha, Anambra State.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the deceased, simply identified as Chisom from Enugu State, was said to have died after washing plates with which she ate on Sunday night.

Controversy however has trailed the cause of her death with the brothel deserted by neighbours and occupants, mostly sex workers.

While some said she hanged herself in her hotel room, others said she might have been strangled to death by an early caller over a financial disagreement while another version alleged she took poison and died.

A neighbour, who does not want to be mentioned in print, alleged the deceased committed suicide on hearing that her lover-boy has dumped her for another woman.

She said: “She had a boyfriend that always spent a lot of money on her. Even this last Christmas the boy came to her with a bag of rice with #200,000, among other items and asked her to travel for Christmas and come back later.

“As soon as she came back, she was told that her boyfriend had married. Since then she started behaving abnormally and just three days ago, she was seen holding a rope in her hand.

“When asked why she was holding the rope she became aggressive and early in the morning, she swept her room and around 9 am what we heard was that she has committed suicide in her room.

“We saw her neck tied with a rope to the window in her room but the legs were touching the floor. So we don’t know if it was suicide as no foam was gushing out from her mouth but the tongue was out.”

When Nigerian Tribune visited the scene, sympathizers were seen attempting to gain access to the hotel to have a glimpse of the corpse while some of the sex workers were hurriedly moving out with their belongings for fear of being arrested.

Operatives from Onitsha Area Police Command, close to the scene of the incident, visited the hotel around 12.30 pm and left with some officials of the hotel, who returned with an ambulance and took the corpse away.

Confirming the incident, Police spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga said investigation has commenced.

“No suicide note was found in the room to suspect suicide. We’re exploring all options to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death,” he said.