Lagos Hotel Manager accused of mobilizing thugs to brutalize customers, N90,000 from them

Prince Samuel Eede, one of the victims, told his ordeal to Saharara Porters and revealed how he and his friends were attacked at Dmatel Hotel in Ikota, Lekki Phase Two. A Hotel Manager in Lagos was accused of unleashing thugs on a payment dispute, and allegedly assaulting them and enforcing an extra N90,000 after settling their accounts. Prince Samuel Eede, one of the victims, told his ordeal to Saharara Porters and revealed how he and his friends were attacked at Dmatel Hotel in Ikota, Lekki Phase Two. “I don’t really live in Lagos. I just came to Lagos and existed for more than a month and stayed in different hotels. I told my friends that I didn’t want to stay in one place, and they brought me to Dmatel Hotel, ‘says Edem. According to him, they entered the hotel on March 19 and paid N45,000 a night for four days. By Friday, however, their sponsor, who stayed in another hotel, had financial problems and asked them to negotiate with hotel management for extra time to clear the accounts. “He said he had challenges that Friday that his girlfriend was sick and needed treatment. He asked us to talk to management and said they would allow us to stay because he had regularly submitted. We talked to them, and they agreed,” he said. By Saturday, the hotel manager insisted that they could not stay for another night without pay. Edem and his friends agreed to check on Sunday morning. “When it was Sunday morning, he knocked on our door and told us to go and look so he could sell the room. We agreed and asked what would happen to our unpaid account for the two nights. He said he would keep our properties until we returned with the money,” Edem explained. “We showed him our Rolex watch worth three million Naira as proof that we would return. He agreed, so we left. ‘ The hotel manager called on Monday morning to remind them of the N90,000 balance. By Wednesday, they raised the money and returned to pay. “When we got there, we asked the cashier how much we owed, and she confirmed that it was N90,000. My friend transferred the money, and we asked for our possessions. She then told us to wait, because management had just sent her to keep going. ‘ According to Edem, the driver later demanded an extra N225,000, claiming that their belongings remained in the room. “I told him that it made no sense. He was the one who insisted that we look, so why do we claim that we owed extra days? He then said that we have to pay at least one more night, ‘he said. That was when the situation became violent. “He called one man, a thug, who said we would not leave the premises. Then they brought more thugs off the street. They started hitting us and call us thieves. ‘ Five men beat me alone. Blood runs out of my nose. They threatened to kill us if we didn’t pay. ‘For fear of their lives, one of Eede’s friends rushed to Zenith Bank and withdrew another cash from N90,000. After we had already paid them N90,000 through the transfer, we had to pay another cash of N90,000 before they let us go, “he said. He confirmed that four of them were assaulted, with two, including himself, he sustained serious injuries.