Serial Killings: Rivers Assembly Goes Tough On Hotels

Disturbed by incessant incidents of serial killers in the State, the Rivers State House of Assembly has warned that it would sanction hotels who disobey police directives to install Close Circuit Television (CCTV) Cameras in their facilities.
Recall that the police had directed all hotels in the state to install CCTV’s as part of measures to ensure the safety of their guests and visitors.
The Chairman, Rivers State House of Assembly Ad Hoc Committee on Serial Killing in the State, Kelechi Wogu gave the warning when he led members’ of his committee on a visit to the State Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dan-Daura, at his office in Port Harcourt.
Hon. Wogu who is the lawmaker representing Omuma Constituency in the State Legislature said if the directive given to hotel owners were strictly complied with, the number of deaths recorded as a result of the activities of the serial killer would have been averted.
He expressed sadness over the sad developments and assured the police of the support of the 32-member Assembly.
According to him, “We are looking at from the time you gave that directive as the Commissioner of Police that should put CCTV Camera and they all agreed and left.
“We as an Assembly won’t spare those hotel that failed to comply with your directive because if those directives were complied with, we would not have lost more lives. The fact is that you have saved lives. If you had not apprehended that miscreant by now, we would have recorded other killings,” the lawmaker said,
Wogu further said that following the committee’s investigations it was discovered that the number of women allegedly killed by the suspect has increased from the earlier nine.
While he commended the efforts of the police in carrying out due diligence in their investigation, he advised hotel owners to ensure the safety of lives and property in their facility by recording details of customers who visit there.
“We, Rivers people are not interested in only the serial killer. We are interested in the serial killers because we still believe that they are more. While investigation is going on more facts will emerge.
“We strongly believe that one man, one cloth for over 15 crimes committed different days with one particular cloth even when you know you are being shown in the social media. People are looking at you if not that I watched the clip and saw when he said that he ties them. Because I wanted to ask why after killing them, why still tying them?
He also urged the Nigerian police to do their best to unravel others involved because David-West may not be working alone in the killings and asked the Police to shut down the hotel where the manager concealed the activities of the suspected serial killer, Gracious David-West when he lodged there.
In his speech, the State Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dan-Daura, said investigations are still ongoing on the case of the serial killing and urged members of the public to always provide information to the police in fighting crime in the state.
He said, “If all the hotels where he did the previous killings gave us his identity immediately, he wouldn’t have succeeded in killing this number of women.”

Dennis Naku