On December 2, 2013, Miss Joan Adaaku, a final year Economics student of the Benue State University, Makurdi, died mysteriously in one of the rooms at Savannah Hotel in Wurukum area of the town. Joan paid N2,000 for a room and went in at about 7 am but when one of the staff knocked on her door in the afternoon, no response came from inside.
Suspecting that the unexpected might have happened, the staff reported the matter to the Assistant Manager who alerted the police in Makurdi and told the owner of the hotel in Akure. When the police and a relation of the owner arrived and the door was pushed, it opened easily; an indication that something was used to wedge it.
It was then about 6pm,when Joan’s lifeless body was discoverd on the bed with her phone beside the left ear. There was foam on her mouth while about 25 missed calls were recorded in her phone. At about 8 pm, her corpse was conveyed to the Federal Mediacal Center, Makurdi, where she was confirmed dead. Thereafter, the corpse was taken to the mortuary.
In Joan’s handbag, there was a rosary, a Bible, N7,000, a can drink and other items of value. Her parents could not be reached for comments because they were so devastated that nobody was allowed into the house. On the day that this correspondent eventually gained entry into the house at the Demekpe area of Makurdi, it was gathered that the lady’s corpse had been taken to the village for burial after a requiem mass.
Sources close to the family however told our correspondent that Joan left the house very early after telling her parents that she was going for prayer. No one could speak about the circumstances surrounding her death because the police said they were investigating the matter and that no arrest has been made.
The parents have refused to make themselves available for comments while staff of the hotel said she came alone and booked for a room as early as 7 am. Perhaps, anyone who wants to get a clue on why she had to go to the hotel at that time of the day could investigate the 25 missed calls that came into her phone within that period.
Again, she entered the room and laid without locking the door properly. Could it be that she was so sleepy that she couldn’t lock the door properly or that she was waiting for to start the prayer session with somebody and she fell asleep in the process?.
An inquisitive person may want to know why Joan would prefer to pray in a hotel. Could it be that she saw the hotel as a more quiet place to pray?. These questions can only be answered by the parents who have preferred to remain silent on the matter or Joan who is no more alive.
For other girls that may like to go to such places for private or public affairs, the problem of loneliness and the consequences must be put into consideration. It would appear that if Joan’s parents had known that she was going to a hotel, they would have prevailed upon her but the information was that she was going for prayer.
Some parents would say that they do not need to disturb their grown up children because they know their limits but such parents fail to realize that other things dictate the extent of the behaviour of such children especially the females.
For God’s sake, why would a final year student leave home so early for prayer in another place outside where other persons meet for prayers?. Even as Joan was in the position to choose a place of her choice for prayer, she was supposed to reveal to her parents about her plan to go to a hotel.
The kind of death that took Joan’s life is not new in Makurdi. Sometimes a lady would go into a hotel with a man and the man would leave her dead in the room and vice versa. The difference in Joan’s case is that she did not go to Savannah Hotel with any man.
Meanwhile, Police public relations officer, Daniel Ezeala, told our correspondent that the police was waiting patiently for the autopsy to determine the next line of action.
Another puzzule is: If not for ASUU strike, would Joan have the time to go for prayer alone in the hotel? Joan would have been putting finishing touches to her final year project. Since nobody is in the position to say that the strike was unnecessary, one can only say that Joan paid supreme sacrifice like the former ASUU president, Professor Iyayi.