Lady in custody for alleged murder of South African boyfriend in hotel

Imohimi Edgal

Detectives from the homicide unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba, Lagos State, have arrested a lady, Gift Mike, 26, for allegedly killing her South African boyfriend, Daniel Grant, 50, in a Lagos hotel. Police said her arrest was sequel to some discoveries made by the team of investigators following the man’s death.Although the man was found hanging on the ceiling of the hotel room, police investigation later revealed that the deceased might have been killed and hung on the ceiling to make it appear like a suicide.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, while parading the suspect yesterday at the command headquarters, said the incident occurred on May 5, 2018. He said on the day of the incident, the deceased had checked into the hotel in company of the suspect, who happens to be her boyfriend.
“Later on, the deceased went out in the evening along with Gift to Pat’s Bar, where they had some drinks. They later came back in the night. The next day, the hotel manager, one Ismail Abu, reported at Maroko police station that the South African was found dead hanging from the ceiling.
“The manager said Gift had called Piyush Pirasata, an Indian, who is the deceased’s friend and told him that she woke up in the middle of the night to find her boyfriend dead,” the police boss narrated.
Edgal said based on the strength of the information, detectives and forensic experts moved to the scene. He said on arrival, the team found out that the death of the South African might have been stage-managed going by their preliminary investigation.He said: “On the spot investigation showed that though the deceased was found to be hanging from the ceiling, his legs were still on the floor, making it to look like he committed suicide. The belt he was supposed to have used to commit suicide with was still tired round his neck.”
The police boss who also gave an update on the circumstances surrounding the murder of a lawyer, Otike Odibi, at Diamond estate, Ajah, said homicide detectives have recovered the weapon used by the deceased to kill her husband.
Edgal said investigations revealed that the suspect had earlier bought brand new kitchen knives with which she committed the crime. He said: “The suspect has since owned up to the crime. On the day of the incident, the suspect, after stabbing her husband severally on the stomach and seeing that his intestines had spilled out, placed a call to her mother.