Esther Isaac, a 21-year-old prospective Higher National Diploma (HND) student at Heritage Polytechnic, Akwa Ibom State, has been found dead in Agete Luxury Hotel, Abuja.

After finding Esther’s corpse on February 27, the hotel management claimed she checked into the hotel with a man around 6 pm two days earlier, and that the man left after a while to find another accommodation.

However, Emmanuel Issac, Esther’s brother, told FIJ that this is only one of the tales the family has been told about her death in the hotel. 

Emmanuel, who lives out of town, said he called his sister’s number several times before one Inspector Danjuma picked up and asked him to come and pick up his dead sister’s body at the mortuary.

“It was surprising when I was told to come for her body, that she was dead. After calling her number several times, one Inspector Danjuma picked up and told me my sister was dead. By the time I got to Abuja, she was in the mortuary,” Emmanuel explained.

Efforts by the family to get more information on the circumstances surrounding Esher’s death are unsuccessful, as the hotel claimed its CCTV was faulty on the day of the incident. Additionally, different versions of stories have been told to the family about Esther’s arrival at the hotel, leaving them confused and with no solid story about how Esther died.

“I was told she came with someone and I asked the hotel to show me the person’s pictures so that we could have more information, but they told me their camera was bad.”

However, pictures released from the hotel room showed a brutalised face, leaving the family to believe that someone is responsible for her death, contrary to the hotel’s claim that she was alone during the night.

Emmanuel also claimed that the police are on the lookout for the photographer who took the pictures and released them.

Agete Luxury Hotel is located in Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja. Although the hotel’s exterior looks good, Google reviews from 2019 to date show that the services are poor and facilities inadequate.

In June 2019, it was alleged that the hotel management aided the escape of a Rivers State councillor who raped a female worker.

FIJ made several calls to the hotel, but they were not answered. At press time, a text message sent to them had not been responded to.