The Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa
Balewa Square (TBS) has watched the chilling footage of Chidinma Ojukwu
confessing to stabbing to death the Chief Executive Officer of Super Tv, Usifo
Michael Ataga, all by herself.
It also viewed the grim footage of Ataga’s
lifeless body recorded shortly after he was found in a Lagos short-let
apartment serviced apartment.
Miss Ojukwu, a 300-level, Mass
Communication student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), is the prime
suspect in Ataga’s murder.
She is standing trial for the alleged
offence alongside her sister and third defendant Chioma Egbuchu, and second
defendant Adedapo Quadri.
They have been on trial since October 12,
2021, when they were arraigned at the high court before Justice Yetunde
Adesanya.
According to the Lagos State Government
which is prosecuting them, the alleged murder took place on June 15, 2021, at
19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.
At the resumption of proceedings, the
prosecution played the video recording from a Compact Disc (CD) on a large
screen in the courtroom.
It showed Ataga lying on the floor facing
up with his hands spread open wearing a white singlet and boxers stained with
blood. His head was close to the wall and there was blood on the floor on his
right-hand side.
There were also large blood stains on the
floor and the pillow and duvet cover.
The video also showed Ojukwu narrating how
she killed Ataga during interrogation by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP)
Olusegun Bamidele from the Intelligence and Tactical Unit of the State Criminal
Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba.
The defendant said she met Ataga through a
friend and they started speaking to each other and that on June 13, 2021, he
asked her to look for a place for them to stay, so she got the short-let
apartment where they ate, drank, took drugs and where he was killed.
Ojukwu said: “After I got the place on
Sunday, we were smoking loud, drinking, watching movies and 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; that was on June 14,
2021.
“Then on Tuesday, we drank and smoked loud
and I added Rophynol to his drink and we had sex. I was on the bed and he was
on the chair. Then 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 wanted it, 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 sex. I pushed him away, which resulted in him hitting his head
against a stool that had a glass. He had a cut on his leg and he became weak.
“I got a knife and stabbed him in the neck,
ribs and stomach so that he would not be able to harm me. I tied his hands with
hand kerchief.
“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 (Ataga) was a friend, that we just
talked. I didn’t know him that deep and we did not talk regularly.”
When she was asked in the video if she was
assisted in killing the deceased as she couldn’t have done it alone because of
his physique, Ojukwu said: “There was nobody that assisted me, I did it alone.
Asked why she didn’t call for help, she
said: “Obviously I was scared that was why I left.”
Asked what was the motive behind her
killing Ataga, she said: “There was no motive behind it.”
DSP Bamidele, who is the ninth prosecution
witness, also asked Ojukwu why she was using a foreign number and why she hid
her number. The defendant responded that she already had a foreign number
registered on social media that she used to chat with people.
Asked why the owner of the service
apartment didn’t know her identity, she replied: “She didn’t ask for my
identification. It was a text that I got. If she had said that the place was
not available I would have left for another place.”
On why she used a fake name “Mary Johnson”
in opening a bank account, the defendant said she tried her real name but the
account was blocked hence her decision to use Mary Johnson.
During examination in chief by prosecution
counsel Mrs Adenike Oluwafemi, Bamidele said the police recovered some items
from the defendant’s house, including a small pink purse containing two
syringes, eight pieces of Rophynol tablets, two sanitary pads, a small perfume,
jewellery, an iPhone, a notebook, a diary and an HP laptop.
Other items were the defendant’s ID card
with her name Ojukwu Chidinma Adora, Ataga’s driving licence, Ojukwu’s UBA ATM
card, Super net ID card with Ataga’s name, then three other cards that had the
deceased’s name and six blank complimentary cards, among others.
In a short ruling, Justice Adesanya
dismissed the defendant’s objection and admitted the items in evidence.
Earlier, the witness showed the court
pictures of the apartment.
The three defendants were arraigned on
October 12, 2021 on a nine-count charge preferred against them by Lagos State
Government.
Ojukwu and Quadri are facing the first to
eight counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, stabbing, forgery, making of bank
statements and stealing.
The third defendant, Egbuchu, is facing the
ninth count – stealing of iPhone 7 belonging to the late Ataga.
The case was adjourned till October 12, for
the continuation of trial.