[size=14pt]Israeli contractor dies mysteriously in hotel [/size]

  Israeli contractor dies mysteriously in hotel
Monday, 31 January 2011 00:00 Remi Koleosho


Remi Koleoso, Abuja
AN Israeli, Mr. Daniel Lamdan, was at the weekend found dead in his hotel room at the Ekiti State Government-owned Fountain Hotel in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
The Nigerian Compass reliably gathered that the deceased was a security expert, and arrived in the state about a week ago on the invitation of the government on an “official assignment.”


Lamdan was discovered dead in his room by one of the hotel attendants.


After the discovery, the hotel management was said to have informed the state police command, who removed the remains of the Israeli to the mortuary of the state-owned University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.


On hearing the news of the incident, our correspondent rushed to the hotel, where he was told that Governor Kayode Fayemi and a chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state had visited.


Efforts by our reporter to find out the nature of Lamdan’s assignment were fruitless, as no one was ready to speak on the incident.


Confirming the death in Ado-Ekiti yesterday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mohammed Jimoh, said the Israeli was in the state for an “official assignment” and was found dead in his hotel room.


He said: “I learnt the deceased came to the state on an official assignment before he was found dead in his hotel room at Fountain Hotels, Ado-Ekiti.


“The command has informed the Force Headquarters to contact the Israeli Embassy in Nigeria to come and identify him. His remains have been deposited at the mortuary of the University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti.
“No arrest has been made since the police did not suspect any foul play. We are still investigating the circumstances that surrounded his death.”
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Patrick Adegun, while confirming the incident, explained that the late Lamdan died of heart failure.


“We performed autopsy on the deceased and we found out that he died of heart failure, which is natural. We equally found out that the deceased had a  history of long time diabetes.
“After the autopsy, his remains have been released to the Israeli embassy and his family,” Adegun disclosed.
Contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Alhaji Mojeed Jamiu, said he was out of the state on official assignment, and was not aware of the incident.
His words: “I am not aware of the incident. You are just informing me. I have travelled out Ado-Ekiti since Thursday, January 27 to Lagos and Abuja on official engagements.”

[size=14pt]Israeli found dead in Ekiti hotel[/size]
By Femi Makinde, Ado-Ekiti
Monday, 31 Jan 2011
Controversy is surrounding the death of an Israeli identified as Mr. Dani Lamdan in a popular hotel in the Ekiti State capital, Ado Ekiti.

The Israeli was found dead in his hotel room on Tuesday.

A top security source told THE PUNCH that the deceased and his compatriot, identified as Begerano, were invited by a company to execute some projects in the Ekiti State. He said employees of the hotel were shocked to discover that their guest had died inside the room.

However, Begerano was said to have escaped from the hotel when he discovered that Lamdan was dead. The source said the hotel workers became worried because the deceased neither went to the restaurant to have breakfast nor ordered for room service as he used to do.

THE PUNCH learnt that when calls to his room were not answered, workers on duty went to check the room and discovered Lamdan’s lifeless body. The discovery, it was learnt, led to a pandemonium in the hotel.

As they made arrangements to convey the remains of the deceased to the mortuary and to contact his family, the source said the workers were further dazed that Begerano could no longer be found in the hotel. Nobody was willing to speak at the hotel when journalists visited the place on Friday.

The source added that it was difficult to trace Lamdan’s family as there was no passport or aliens’ card in his bag.

“We are not sure if he was an illegal immigrant because he also did not have Immigration endorsement. Some immigrants don’t take their passports or resident permit around because of the fear that they could be stolen. But they do carry endorsement cards given by the Nigeria Immigration service.

[b]“But this man did not have any of these documents and his colleague had also escaped,” he said.

[/b]The Police Public Relations Officer in Ekiti State, Mr. Mohammed Jimoh, confirmed the incident in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Sunday.

He said Lamdan’s corpse had been deposited at the mortuary of the University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti. The PPRO said the report showed that the deceased died of natural causes and no foul play was suspected.

He said the command had contacted the Force Headquarters in Abuja, which would inform the Israeli Embassy. Also, a source at the hospital, who corroborated the comamnd’s claims, said the autopsy report showed that Lamdan had a history of diabetes.

THE PUNCH learnt that embassy officials and the widow of the deceased arrived in Ado-Ekiti on Friday to move the corpse to Israel for burial.

Meanwhile, a 25-year-old man, Mr. Ojo Olowookere, has been found dead inside an abandoned well in Ado-Ekiti. Olowookere was discovered in the well at the back of his residence along Ilawe Road around Olaoluwa Muslim Grammar School.

The deceased’s parents were said to have visited hospitals, police stations when they did not see their son on Thursday. But a girl who went to the well to fetch water was said to have seen human legs in the well and raised the alarm which attracted people to the scene.

Some people swiftly contacted firemen, who then removed the body from the well. Our correspondent learnt that there were bloodstains on the head of the deceased when he was removed. This raised suspicion that he was probably killed and dumped in the well.

Olowookere’s remains have been taken to the mortuary. The spokesman of the state polcie command confirmed the development, adding that it was being investigated.