RECENTLY, during a routine check, staffers of a hotel in Gwarimpa, Abuja, found a gory spectacle in one of the rooms: an unconscious woman who had her hands tied behind her back. Having noticed that the man with whom she had lodged in the hotel had earlier exited the premises without her, they alerted the police, who later identified the young woman as Aladi Johnson, otherwise known as Tessy, a native of Benue State. According to the spokesperson of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command, SP Josephine Adeh, the deceased checked into the hotel on June 16 in the company of an unidentified male. However, “preliminary investigation revealed that the victim, later identified as Aladi Offikwu Johnson, also known as Tessy, a female from Benue State, checked into the hotel located at 3rd Avenue, Gwarinpa, on 16th June, 2025, in the company of an unidentified male who was later observed to have exited the premises without her.” Adeh stated that the said lady was, however, confirmed dead upon medical evaluation, adding that in a swift response to the tragic incident, the Commissioner of Police (CP) in charge of the FCT, Mr Ajao Adewale, had ordered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident.

In addition, she said, the CP advised young ladies to exercise caution in their interactions, especially with unfamiliar individuals, and to always share their whereabouts with friends or family members for safety purposes. Adeh said the CP also called on hotel operators to strengthen internal security protocols, including mandatory identity verification for guests, calling for the installation of functional surveillance systems to aid both deterrence and investigation. The police boss commiserated with the family of the deceased, saying that efforts were being made to bring the perpetrator(s) to justice.

This story is, for want of a better word, distressing. In all probability, the victim was murdered by the man with whom she lodged in the Gwarimpa hotel, but it is clear that she would not have accompanied him to the hotel if she knew the sad fate that awaited her. As we have warned on this page times without number, young ladies, and indeed people in general, ought to be extremely careful in their romantic dalliances, as it may mean a ticket to death and destruction. The present society, suffused with countless number of individuals seeking to make money by any means possible, and caring only about themselves and their demonic lusts, is so danger-prone that nothing but extreme vigilance can guarantee safety of life. All too often, for pecuniary reasons, young ladies, in particular, simply throw their lives away. Like their male counterparts, they are preoccupied with carnal and mundane pleasures and partake in extremely dangerous escapades in pursuit of money. Only last week, a High Court sitting in Lafia, Nasarawa State, sentenced a ‘gospel musician’, Oluwatimileyin Ajayi, to death by hanging for the murder of Salome Adaidu, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

Ajayi, who was arrested on January 12 this year by men of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Nasarawa State Police Command in Lafia after being busted by a mob while trying to dispose of the victim’s head after killing her, had confessed to the crime, saying that he had absolutely no regrets over his action, as the deceased, who was murdered when she allegedly visited him at his house in the Papalana axis at New Karshi in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, had cheated on him. In February this year, a final-year student of the Kwara State College of Education in Ilorin, Lawal Hafsoh Yetunde, was gruesomely murdered by her boyfriend, one Muhammed Bello, an Islamic cleric whom she had met on social media. The victim was at a naming ceremony when she received what turned out to be a fatal call.

In July 2023, Augusta Osedion, a 300-level university student, was killed by her boyfriend, Benjamin Best-Killaboi, in Lagos State. In July 2024, a lady, Sa’adatu Ibrahim, was set ablaze by her boyfriend, Abdullahi Idris, in Kano State after she rejected his marriage proposal. The following month, one Fatai Mogaji allegedly stabbed his ex-girlfriend, Opeyemi Shoyinka, to death in Lagos State. In September of the same year, 19-year-old Abigail Damilola was killed and dismembered by her boyfriend, Jeremiah Samson, in Kogi State. The following month, a 23-year-old woman, Precious Yusuf, was allegedly killed by her online lover in Delta State. According to reports, 88 Nigerian women were killed between January and June 2025, averaging one woman every 49 hours. This is scary, to say the least.

To be sure, women come to harm even in lasting romantic relationships such as marriage. For instance, in October 2024, Olajumoke Olaniyi, a six-month pregnant woman, was stabbed and set on fire by her husband in Lagos State. The point we are making, however, is that vigilance is called for at every stage in relationships. In particular, young people should be very careful in entering into relationships. Often, they are too trusting, assuming that people they meet on online platforms are exactly who they claim to be. The fact is that many of those supposedly ‘searching for love’ or ‘looking for friends’ on social media are bloodthirsty criminals seeking the next victim. In moving around these days, it is important to leave digital traces, to let family and friends know of one’s movement, and to refuse to meet total strangers, especially in isolate places.

In the present case, we believe that staffers of the hotel in question are duty-bound to help the police in their investigation. The hotel has a duty to ensure that all guests have a valid means of identification and if that was not done in this case, then it should be held accountable for its negligence. As the FCT CP canvassed, it is crucial for hotel operators to strengthen internal security protocols, including mandatory identity verification for guests. They should also have functional surveillance systems. A grievous crime has been committed in this case and the police must get to the root of the matter. May the soul of Aladi Offikwu Johnson rest in sweet repose.

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