Four Journalists detained by hotel mgt for fact finding mission on popular Nollywood actor’s death
By Our reporter
The last may not have been heard of the actual cause of the death of the late prolific Nollywood actor cum musician, Ernest Azuzu, as the management of the hotel where he was reported to have died is being fingered in a desperate ploy to cover up the actual cause of his death.
On January 26, 2021, Nigerians woke up to the shocking news of the death of the popular actor.
It would be recalled that the deceased was reported to have died during a sex romp with a commercial sex worker, identified as Emmanuella Daniel, in a notorious hotel named “New Sport One” in Ijegun area of Lagos State, Nigeria.
SaharaWeeklyng gathered that during the incident, the Manager of the hotel known as Mr Daniel Okorie, who is also a Musician, had quickly, with the help of one Prophet Chimezie, ‘a resident prophet and Daniel’s godfather’, moved the deceased,who was said to be naked but only covered with his sperm stained boxer shorts, to Igando General hospital, where he was said to have been confirmed as ‘BID’, meaning Brought In Dead.
To cover his track, the Manager was said to have contacted Isheri Osun police Station and reported that one of his customers had slumped.
The hotel was sealed due to the development by operatives of the Lagos State Police Command on the directives of the Commissioner of Police, to allow for a thorough investigation into the unfolding issue.
It was later revealed, that the management of the hotel, in defiance to the directive by the Lagos CP, had gone ahead to break the police seal on the apartment and commenced operations immediately, a development which spurred a team of investigative journalists to proceed to the hotel on a fact-finding mission.
Surprisedly, the journalists were attacked by some hoodlums in conjunction with the manager of the hotel before they were later held hostage for at least four hours within the hotel’s premises before the intervention of one Bishop Anthony Chidi who quickly prevailed on the situation by sending one Prophet Chibuike to the scene to ensure their release.
According to the reporter, “it was a very tensed, unwarranted and unprovoked incident.
A customer of the hotel had accused one of us of taking pictures of the environment, but when asked to come and verify his claims on the phone, he refused, running straight to the manager who immediately locked the gate to prevent the journalists from leaving the premise”.
The manager claimed he acted on instruction from the “Hotel Owner”.
However, “the hoodlums, while threatening to deal ruthlessly with us, also boasted that they would stab us and nothing would happen, claiming to be well connected even to some high ranking police officers and Military personnel”.
One of the journalists sent an SOS message immediately to the DPO of Isheri Osun as the Public Relations Officer did not immediately respond to the saga, but they later got a response from the DPO urging them to find means of escape as that place has been known to be a haven for criminals”.
The attack on the journalists, sources disclosed, may not be unconnected to a desperate move by the hotel owner to cover up some illegal activities happening within the building as information gathered reveals that the “New Spot One” hotel has been known to harbor various illicit trades including drug dealings, prostitution and the likes.
This is coupled with the illegal running of operations at a time the organization is presumed to have been sealed by the State police.
A staff of the hotel, who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that the hotel management broke the police seal to the premise and has resumed operation since February 11, 2021 prior to the visit by the four journalists in February 24, 2021.
Another source, who chose not to be named, however, stated that more than what Nigerians were made to believe about the circumstances surrounding the death of the late popular actor, there may be more hidden facts waiting to be unraveled as the guesthouse had been well known for such strange occurrences recalling that the same hotel in May, 2020, was stormed at by police operatives led by the then Isheri Osun DPO , CSP Chike Ibe, and the Director, Chief Henry Egbuonwu, wife Salome, Manager and over two hundred fun seekers and staff were said to have been Nabbed for disobeying the Federal Government and state Governments COVID 19 Lockdown guidelines and some untoward activities.
The late actor Ernest Azuzu rose to prominence with his superlative delivery in the movie “Another Campus Queen” in the late ‘90s.
Until his death, Azuzu had starred in at least 150 Nollywood films including Burning Desire, Broad Daylight, Ogidan, and Living Abroad amongst others.