Tejiri Ebikeme/Frank Efe

THE Management of Casa De Pedro Hotels Ltd, Effurun, near Warri, Delta State has cleared the air on the allegation that a 53 year old woman was kidnapped and raped in the hotel, saying there was nothing of such.

While admitting that the woman, a staff of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, actually checked into room 602 of the hotel April 16, 2013 with receipt number 1652, at about 5:30 pm, the Hotel management claimed that an incident like that never took place.

The Manager of the Hotel, Mr. Imonisan Godspower, while pondering over what he described as a drama of the year, said that; “I am the Manager of Casa De Pedro and I am 37 years old. This incident was reported to me on the 17^th of this month when I resumed work. The General Supervisor told me what happened that day, saying that the two receptionists on duty informed him about the incident. The way the story goes was just like a child’s play because with the level of security we have here in Casa De Pedro it will be difficult for anybody to just come inside and walk into any room, just as it was difficult for the young man to get into the room without identifying himself. We have security everywhere patrolling the whole place and you cannot just come from outside and walk into any room. And even if you are the occupant of that room, when you are going out you have to drop your key with the receptionist and when you come back, you pick your key from the reception. Before any visitor comes you have to identify yourself and fill a form and they will call the guest if he/she is expecting anybody. To me, it was like a child’s play and we did not take it serious and not until on Saturday when I was called that some journalists were here and that they wanted to see me.”

He also said that; “All efforts by the General Supervisor to know their mission failed. The supervisor then told me that one of them made a statement saying, “you people do not want to co-operate. Whatever you see in the newspapers you will take it like that.” To me they wanted to blackmail us because I felt they have an information which they wanted to use to collect money from us. We did not take the threat serious not until on Monday when we watched on television that two young men were caught by soldiers for rape and kidnapping that we now tried to link one or two things together. To me those so-called journalists just wanted to get some money from us so that they will not mention our hotel name. That was my conclusion. On the other hand, this woman must have cooked up this story to blackmail the two young men. The woman is aiming at getting at the two young men, while the journalists were aiming at getting at us. In all of these you see that Casa De Pedro has no hand in this story but you see those journalists just wanted to blackmail us to get something. They did not even ask us any questions. They were just insisting on seeing the manager. And even the supervisor was trying to plead with them to try to resolve the matter, but they refused. We asked them to show us their ID cards to prove that they are journalists, but they refused. For us, somebody just wanted to at us for no reason.”

Mr.Imonsan, while urging members of the public to disregard the allegation, said;” This is the very first time in the history of Casa De Pedro that such a thing has ever happened. To me, I think the journalists had some information and they wanted to use it to blackmail us to get some money. Casa De Pedro is not a den for kidnappers. It has never happened and will never happen by the grace of God because we have security in place 24/7 and everything is working fine. Casa De Pedro is a business hotel and it is not just like other hotels where every Tom Dick and Harry goes to. This hotel is patronized by companies and companies are responsible people and they see us as a responsible hotel and that is why they are patronizing us. We have an effective security in place; they are fully armed. I have not met the woman once. This is the first time I am hearing about her and according to records, she has checked into this hotel in March this year and we gathered that the young man the soldiers claimed they arrested around  PTI area, came visiting her on that March 28, 2013 when she checked into the hotel at about 5: 42 pm.

On his part, Ogheneochuko P. Muagba, the General Supervisor of the hotel, while clearing the air on the matter said that; “, I am 36 years old and I have been working here for nine years now. On the 16^th of this month I was at the balcony when our cashier called me and told that there was an incident at the reception. As I was walking up to the cashier the lady was coming out of the reception. I tried to call her but she was not listening to me. But one of our guests who was trying to calm her down and he told me to leave her alone for the time being. When I later approached her and asked her what happened she said somebody came to her room and tried to kidnap her and that the person almost stabbed her. She said when the person tried to stab her, the  knife fell to the ground and the person told her she is very lucky. Our receptionists said that she checked into room 602 at about 5:30p.m with receipt number 1652 and that she had stayed in the hotel on March 28th in room 805 with receipt number 1926.”

He added that: “When I went to the room there was nobody there. But I noticed that there were two bottles of drinks on the table and they were both half filled. The bed was not rough to show any sign of struggle between two persons. One of our guests upstairs then called me and told me that he saw the woman with two young men standing very close to the mustering point where they parked their car. One of the boys walked to our bush bar while the other one and the lady walked to the room. What came to my mind is that this may be a form of blackmail and I made my report to the manager. A few days ago some people came and said they were journalists and said they want to see my manager, without any form of identification. The manager was not on duty then and the receptionist on duty came to me and told me that they said they are journalists. We were discussing and the next thing I heard was one of them stood up and said that we have heard that your hotel is used as a den for kidnappers. I said please watch your statement this place is not a den for kidnappers. The next thing I heard was; do not worry you will see what will happen and anything you see on the newspapers you will take it. If I see this person that made that comment I can identify him. A guest that was standing beside him and he told him that companies have been using this hotel for a very long time and that nothing of such has happened. If you are making such statements, then you are trying to blackmail Casa De Pedro. They came in two vehicles and they all left.”

On the security arrangement in the hotel, the General Supervisor disclosed that; “We have a bush bar and one policeman was stationed there while the other policeman was patrolling. When this thing happened I called their attention and we went to the gate and asked them if car any sped off through the gate. The gatemen there told us that nobody sped off from the gate. We have adequate security here. We have our mobile policemen and our own private securities. What came to my mind then was that somebody is trying to blackmail us and that was why I told the journalist that day that this is a case of blackmail. I read in the Sunday Tribune that the woman was dragged into Casa De Pedro and this was a woman that booked for her room. How can somebody drag you into the room when we have a private security and policemen? According to the receptionist, when the boy came in he said he was looking for Juliet in room 602. So the boy must have contacted the woman and she came to take her to the room when the receptionists refused to allow him in.”

It was learn’t that the matter had been reported to the Ekpan Police Station in Uvwie local government area of Delta State.