By Brave Dickson
Excitements are still greeting commercial sex workers in Port Harcourt following the arrest of a suspected serial killer of young women in hotel rooms, Gracious David West by the Nigeria Police Force.
Suspected Gracious David West who was paraded before journalists by the Rivers State Police Command at its headquarters at Moscow Road last Friday confessed to having killed about seven young women within three states of Rivers, Lagos and Imo at separate intervals.
Our correspondent who visited a brothel at the old Township of Port Harcourt reports that the sex workers were very happy over the arrest of Gracious David West by the police, insisting that the suspected serial killer of young women be put to death as well.
The sex workers thanked the security agencies especially the police, all stakeholders including religious worshippers whose prayers also led to the arrest of suspected Gracious David West even as they expressed sadness over the killing of their colleague by a serial killer of young women.
They also promised free services for one week.
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Narrating her feeling during the reign of killing in the state and the eventual arrest of suspected Gracious David West, Omotala Adigun said: “Concerning the killings of young women in hotel rooms, we thank all the police personnel. Now we know that the police are doing their work because they have been able to arrest the alleged serial killer, Gracious David West. We also thank the women and other religious bodies who prayed for these killings of women to end. We thank God for hearing our prayers.
“We were not happy about our colleague and friend that was killed by that serial killer. We like her character, but we can not bring her back because that serial killer had cut short her life. But we are still happy because his arrest will either end or reduce the killing of young women in the state.”
In her grief over the killing of her colleague, Mary Yadoo said anyone found culpable for the murder of young women in the state should be killed immediately without delay, adding that such retribution would help deter others, saying that though the corpse of her slain colleague had been found but was yet to know where she was killed.
Yadoo said: “We are very happy over the arrest of the suspected serial killer of young women in hotel rooms, Gracious David West. We thank God that we were able to see the corpse of our colleague, but we don’t know where she was killed. We want the serial killer(s) to be killed too for them also to feel the pain of death.”
At the briefing, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Mustapha Dandaura, said the arrest of the suspected Gracious David West became possible with the assistance of one of the hotels that complied with the directive to install closed-circuit television (CCTV)
“The hotel later reported to the police about the development and released to us the telephone number he (West) dropped with the hotel. We began tracking him via his phone, and with God on our side, he was arrested along Ogoni axis, of East-West Road on his way to Akwa Ibom State, on Thursday afternoon by men of the command’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad who were on their usual stop-and-search duties.
“When the SARS operatives asked the passengers in the vehicle to disembark for a search, they saw the suspect in the same attire (a T-shirt and blue trousers) which he wore in the viral video. The SARS team called my attention to it on the phone, and I asked that he should be brought straight to my office.
“The moment he stepped into my office, I called him by his name, David West, and he answered. He then said to me, ‘Please sir, I am ready to tell you the truth, I don’t want any problem,’ “the state police boss said.
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