The manager of Century Home Hotel in Owehlogbo, Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State, has confessed to the murder of a 22-year-old Point-of-Sale operator, Onoriode Bethel, who was declared missing in December 2024.
The suspect, identified as Iboirode, admitted to luring Bethel into the hotel under the guise of resolving a financial dispute, killing her, and secretly burying her body within the hotel compound.
Spokesperson of the Delta State Police Command, SP Bright Edafe, confirmed the shocking development in Delta on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
“The suspect murdered Bethel and buried her body on the hotel premises,” Edafe said.
According to Edafe, police investigations revealed that the suspect murdered Bethel in retaliation after she accused him of using a fake bank alert to steal N10,000 from her account.
Though she reportedly recovered the money, he allegedly felt that the incident had tarnished his reputation.
The suspect’s wife also confessed to knowing about the murder and revealed chilling details:
“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 pm 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 said.
In a further twist, the suspect used Bethel’s mobile phone to contact her father and demand a ransom.
He also accessed her POS device to withdraw money after coercing her for the password before killing her.
“He used her phone to call her father, demanding ransom. He even used her POS to collect the money, extracted the password from the girl before killing her. Her remains have been recovered,” Edafe added.
Bethel had been missing since December 13, 2024.
Her disappearance gained renewed police attention following the March 2025 arrest of Iboirode and other hotel staff over the unrelated murder of a guest, Pastor Sunday Ogofohta.
The Delta State Police Command says the investigation is ongoing and assured that justice will be served.
