Pool Party: Awka Residents Laud Soludo’s Action, Urges Protection Of Businesses
Some residents of Awka, the Anambra capital have reacted to the sealing of a Hotel Annexe in Awka by the Anambra State government following a viral sex video which allegedly emanated from the facility.
The respondents who commended the Anambra government for wading in to conduct proper investigation pleaded with the state government to avoid measures that would kill businesses and discourage investors.
Recall that a group, still at large had hired the annexe section of the hotel for a party which later degenerated into a open adult sex orgy by the pool side.
A recorded video of the sex scene was set sent online with the sender gleefully stating the location of the incident.
This sparked widespread condemnation among people within and outside the state which led to the intervention of the Anambra government who sealed the facility in Sept. 9.
Mr Smith Obodozie, an Awka resident said while it was important to streamline operations of hotels and pubs in the growing capital city, it was also important to protect businesses.
Obodozie regretted the bad image created by the content of the video and called on operators of hotel and entertainment to evolve a more proactive check against unhealthy social and moral activities.
According to him, the pool sex video is quite condemnable, I also like the way government has moved in to suspend the facility involved, though I do not know involvement of the management.
“However, we must be reminded that we are talking about the entertainment industry in a fast changing world, technology is also doing a lot of damage and you know, it is difficult to predict human behaviours, especially adults.
“So, my advice is that the government should not kill businesses or discourage investors because if you go about shutting everywhere, there won’t be an economy to operate,” he said.
On her part, Ms Jacinta Ene, an entrepreneur, said the development was unfortunate but not strange.
Ene noted that there was a new and unfortunate trend in Awka where unscrupulous persons try to run down businesses by videos of real and imagined events and sending them out in the social media.
“Remember just about two weeks ago, there was a video where somebody said that a popular eatery (name withheld) was serving customers the sacred python which was forbidden in most areas of Anambra.
“But the same person later came back to apologise to the owner that it was a mischief sponsored by some detractors somewhere and I understand he is being investigated with his accomplices.
“My opinion is that those responsible, those who staged the pool sex party should be apprehended, investigated and punished instead of shutting down businesses and creating more unemployment,” he said.
Mr Bonny Akunna, BoT Chairman of Restaurant and Bar Owners, Anambra chapter said the closure was in order but should have come after investigation was concluded.
Akunna said Africans had moral values and would naturally frown at such obscene video with anybody involved but called on government to consider the economy around the business.
He likened it to Big Brother Naija which was aired in homes while children and students were at home but had not been banned.
“Those people were adults, they could have hired the hotel for an event and end up using it for another thing like the problem we have at hand now, so we want to ask for pardon in the interest of the workers, the suppliers and those that enjoy the services of that facility,” he said.
