The manager of an Abuja hotel where a non-payment dispute between two suspected homosexuals ended in the death of one of them has been detained by the police for interrogation.
The suspected gay, Mohammed Snu, who had allegedly worshipped in a nearby mosque about hour earlier, was stabbed several times in the ribs with a screw driver last Thursday by his suspected partner, Mohammed Umar, inside a room of a hotel in Garki, Abuja.
Following the report of the crime policemen from the FCT Command went in a white pick-up van and took the corpse away and the hotel manager.
They also drove away his white Mercedez salon car with Abuja registration number, KUJ 883 AQ, which was parked on the hotel premises.
Peter Okechukwu, FCT PPRO, confirmed the incident, explaining that the deceased invited the suspect to massage him in his hotel room, saying he had pains in his ribs.
“In the course of the massage, Snu asked Umar to undress for sex, and from there, they engaged in a scuffle leading to the stabbing of the deceased by the suspect. It was the loud noise from their room that attracted the hotel workers.
“When our men got to the hotel, we found the deceased and the suspect naked. Investigations have commenced and we will soon know what actually transpired behind the closed door.”
However, the hotel staff told the story differently. They claimed the deceased who was a regular guest at the hotel, and had invited Umar for specifically for sex, but their romance went sour when Snu refused to pay his partner.
Hotel sources claimed the two men had sex twice, but Snu allegedly refused to pay for the second round, which led to a scuffle.
“The man had just come back from a mosque where he went for prayers with his partner when we heard a loud noise from his room and a voice saying ‘ya kuri (please, don’t be angry)’. By the time we forced the door open, we saw Umar standing naked and Snu lying dead on the bed with stab injuries on his body.
“We immediately called the police and Umar was arrested”, the source added.
The incident generated uproar around the Garki neighbourhood, as residents gathered in groups to discuss the tragedy.