I killed Usifo Ataga myself, Chidinma says in video played in court

Chidinma Ojukwu, the main suspect in the alleged murder of Usifo Ataga, the former CEO of Super TV, confessed to the crime in a video played before the Lagos High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square on Tuesday.

Usifo Ataga

On June 15, 2021, Ojukwu and Adedayo Quadri will go on trial for the death of Mr. Ataga.

They were charged with stealing Ataga’s iPhone 7 along with Ojukwu’s sister, Chioma Egbuchu.

The video showed Ataga’s body lying face up on the ground with his hands outstretched.

He was dressed in a white singlet and blood-stained shorts.

In the short-service apartment where he was allegedly killed, his head was close to a wall.

Blood was on the bed’s pillow, the floor, and the duvet.

Ojukwu described how she met Ataga through a friend in the video.

According to her, the deceased called her on June 13, 2021, and asked her to find a place for them to stay. She said she was able to secure the short-term service apartment where the deceased passed away.

She said: “After I got the place on Sunday, we were smoking loud, drinking, watching movies. Then, I went to get food, the drug we were taking got finished and I ordered another one and went downstairs to get it from the delivery guy in the morning.”

The aforementioned incident, according to the first defendant, took place on June 14, 2021.

“Then, on Tuesday, we drank, smoke loud and I added Rophynol to his drink. We had sex, and I was on the bed and he was on a chair.

“Later, he started disturbing me for more sex. I was tired, and after struggling with him, he had his way and still wanted more.

“He was no longer himself, and I thought he was no more interested in sex, only for him to return to the bed to ask for more.

“I pushed him away which resulted in his hitting his head against a stool that had a glass, he had a cut on his leg and he became weak.”

In order to prevent Ataga from hurting her, Ojukwu claimed that she then took a knife and stabbed him in the neck, ribs, and stomach.

“I tied his hands with a handkerchief. His blood was out and I was scared.

“I just packed everything, my clothes were also stained with blood, I just packed my things and left.

“I took the knife and handkerchief, and when I got home, I threw the knife and handkerchief away.

“Michael was a friend. I didn’t know him that deeply, and we didn’t talk regularly,” she said in the video clip.

Ojukwu responded, “There was nobody that assisted me, I did it alone,” when asked in the video if she had help killing the victim.

She responded, “Obviously I was scared, that’s why I left,” when asked why she didn’t call for help.

She claimed that Ataga’s murder was not motivated.

In the video, DSP Olusegun Bamidele from the Intelligence and Tactical Unit of the State Criminal Investigating Department, Panti Yaba, who is the ninth prosecution witness in the murder trial, is seen questioning Ojukwu at Panti.

He also questioned her regarding her use of a foreign phone number and her reasoning for hiding it.

According to Ojukwu, she had already registered a foreign phone number on social media, which she used to communicate with others.

She replied, “She didn’t ask for my identification. That’s why the owner of the service apartment didn’t know my identity.

“I would have left for another place if she had said the space wasn’t available.”

In the video, a viewer inquired about Ojukwu’s decision to open a bank account through Mary Johnson.

She claimed that when she tried to open an account number, it was denied.

Ojukwu wrote on an ID card she obtained, “It was someone who did it and you can’t see his face.

“I don’t know the person’s contact information. While browsing the internet, I came across a contact to call.

She also mentioned in the video that she opened a domestic account where she could deposit money.

At this point, Adenike Oluwafemi, the prosecutor’s attorney, reminded the witness of his testimony from May 10 when he claimed to have found some items in the defendant’s home.

In his reply, Bamidele listed the items he allegedly found in Ojukwu’s home.

He reported to Justice Yetunde Adesanya that he found a small pink purse containing an iPhone belonged to the first defendant, two syringes, eight pieces of Rophynol tablets, two sanitary pads, a small perfume, jewellery, a notebook, a diary, and an HP laptop.

The other items, according to the witness, were a driver’s licence for Ataga, Ojukwu Chidinma Adora’s automated teller machine card from United Bank for Africa, and an identity card with Ataga’s name on it.

The witness lists three additional cards bearing the deceased’s name and six additional blank complimentary cards as additional items.

Oluwafemi identified the items and pleaded with the judge to allow them to be used as evidence.

Ojukwu’s attorney, C.C. Ezebube, raised a concern about the items’ admissibility.

From the time of recovery to the time they were presented to the court, Ezebube claimed that the custody of the items was not specified.

He said, “Some of the items could have been picked from anywhere, there is no originality as these items can be reproduced from anywhere.”

The attorneys for Quadri and Egbuchu, Mr. Babatunde Busari and F.O. Ilesunmi, did not raise any objections to the items being offered as evidence.

The judge ruled to reject the objection and accept the items as evidence.

The trial was continued on Wednesday after the case was postponed.

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