The Delta State Police Command has confirmed the arrest and confession of the manager of Century Home Hotel in Owehlogbo, Isoko North Local Government Area, for the murder of a 22-year-old Point-of-Sale (POS) operator, Onoriode Bethel, who had been missing since December 2024.
The suspect, identified as Iboirode, reportedly lured Bethel to the hotel under the guise of resolving a financial dispute before killing her and secretly burying her body within the hotel premises.
Police spokesperson SP Bright Edafe disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, May 13.
“The suspect murdered Bethel and buried her body on the hotel premises,” Edafe stated.
According to Edafe, preliminary investigations revealed that the murder was an act of retaliation.
Bethel had earlier accused Iboirode of using a fake bank alert to defraud her of N10,000. Though the money was eventually recovered, the suspect allegedly felt the incident had damaged his reputation.
The suspect’s wife, who has also been detained, admitted knowing about the crime and provided details of the incident.
“My husband called her into the hotel; she is a friend of his. That day, he called her on the phone and took her into a room. It was around 7 p.m. one evening. I don’t know how he killed her because I was in our room. It was when he came out around midnight that he told me he had killed her,” she confessed.
Further investigations revealed that Iboirode used Bethel’s mobile phone to contact her father and demand a ransom, pretending she had been kidnapped.
He also accessed her POS terminal after coercing her into revealing her password before killing her.
“He used her phone to call her father, demanding ransom. He even used her POS to collect the money and extracted the password from the girl before killing her. Her remains have been recovered,” Edafe added.
Bethel, on December 13, 2024, raised concern in the community.
In March 2025, Iboirode and other hotel staff, in connection with the unrelated murder of a guest, Pastor Sunday Ogofohta, were arrested.
The police said investigations are ongoing and vowed to ensure that justice is served.
“This is a tragic and deeply disturbing case. We are committed to uncovering the full truth and bringing all involved to justice,” SP Edafe assured.
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