Chidinma Retracts Confessional Statement, Says I Don’t Know Who Killed Ataga

Wale Igbintade

Chidinma Ojukwu, charged with the murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super Tv,  Usifo Ataga yesterday retracted her confessional statement before a Lagos High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, claiming that ‘she does not know who killed the deceased’.

At the resumed watching of the recorded video footage of her confessional statement, Chidinma  said that she did not know who killed the deceased, adding that she just went out and by the time she came back, Ataga was dead on the floor and she quickly picked her things and left because she was scared.

She told the trial judge, Justice Yetunde Adesanya, “I don’t know who entered I just picked my things and left because I was scared.”

At the last adjourned date on October 11, 2022, when the video recording footage was first played showing the lifeless body of Ataga and later Ojukwu’s confession, she had admitted in the video that she killed the deceased on her own.

In the video, she said: “There was nobody that assisted me, I did it alone.”

Ojukwu, an undergraduate of the University of Lagos  was arraigned alongside two others Adedapo Quadri and Chioma Egbuchu on October, 12, 2021, on a nine-count charge over alleged murder of Ataga 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 of receiving a stolen  iPhone 7 belonging to the late Ataga.

Ojukwu and Quadri were alleged to have conspired and murdered Ataga on June 15, 2021, by stabbing him several times with a knife on the neck and chest.

The incident took place at 19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

However, in the recent video, Chidinma while being interrogated was asked why she denied knowing the deceased, she said she didn’t say so but that she didn’t kill him.

 “I did not say that I did not know him, I said I did not kill him, I cannot kill somebody,” she said.

When one member of the team that interrogated her in the video asked why she said the blood stains on her clothes was her period, she kept saying she cannot kill somebody.

“I don’t know who came in after I left the room when I came back I saw him bleeding. I had to leave because I was scared, I did not kill him, I don’t know who killed him,” she stressed.

Asked when she saw him, in the pool of his blood why she left him instead of calling for help, she responded that it was because she was scared.

She was also asked why she ordered for  Loud smoke and Rophynol, the defendant answered that it was the deceased that ordered for it and that she doesn’t know where he ordered it from as she just went to pick it.

The defendant was also asked why she picked the deceased’s two Iphones and Mac Laptop, she said she just picked them because they were among her things and left because she was scared.

The ninth prosecution witness DSP Olusegun Bamidele from the Intelligence and Tactical Unit of the State Criminal Investigating Department Panti Yaba, who was led in evidence by the Lagos State prosecuting counsel Yusuf Sule, after the video stopped playing continued with the narration of how the hand written statement of the first defendant was taken and how the second and third defendants were arrested.

Bamidele said that after the arrest of the first defendant, on June 23, 2021, her written statement was recorded on June 24.

He said: “She started writing by herself, but because her hand writing was illegible, I told her that she should ensure that her writing is legible or write in capital letter. It was at that point that she said I should write for her and she confessed to killing the deceased.She also mentioned how she had killed Michael Usifo Ataga and went away with the knife, phones and Mac book laptop. We took the first defendant to the computer village with her laptop and we locate the phone hub.

” I and my OC went and we met one Yomi, we invited him and initially but he insisted on knowing what happened so I hinted him then when he came to our office, we gave him the whole details and he said it was few days ago that the first defendant came to sell the laptop to them, and it was one of his colleagues Ifeoluwa Oluwo that they did the transactions together.

“That was how the macbook was recovered and the first defendant confessed that she was the one who sold the laptop to them.

” On that same June 24, I remember she mentioned one DG, that he assisted her in getting ID card, drivers license, Access Bank ATM, among others but that she doesn’t know his full name, but only speak with him on phone.

” I now said ok, assist us in this investigation so that we can get this DG, she said she doesn’t know the house, this promoted us to bring the tracking team who traced her to her house.

” In the course of investigation we studied her call logs very well we noticed that there was frequent call log with a particular number between June 15, 17, 18 and 21, the tracker led to the arrest of the 2nd defendant.

” The team traced the 2nd defendant to  Surulere before he was arrested, the 2nd defendant threw away his phone through the window and also attempted to jump through the window but he was held by the waist.

” Four other phones were recovered from him, two small size itel phones and two Tecno phones.

” Eventually when he was brought to our office I called him DG, he said his name was not DG, then I confronted him with who is Chidinma, then he narrated how he met Chidinma.

” He said he met Chidinma through a friend called Sam, who was an ex- boy friend of the first defendant and that he is capable of getting international passport, drivers license, statement of bank.

” The second Defendant said that he got Chidinma’s number from Sam and after conversations he visited her at choice places at Sabo Yaba.

” Along the line he said there was a particular day during the week when Chidinma called him and requested that he gets her Loud smoke and Rophynol, he collected the money and went to Shitta area of Surulere and got the Rophynol from the Mallam in that area.

” He said he remembered sending it to the first defendant while she was at Lekki, through a dispatched rider, he told me that he supplies her two or three time in Lekki, with Loud smoke and Rophynol.

” He said on one of the occasions he called the first defendant when the dispatched rider got to Lekki and she went to collect it,” The witness said.

The witness who continued in his evidence, said that the 3rd defendant was arrested through the help of the foster father of Chidinma Onoh Ojukwu and their uncle Mr Obi alongside their mother.

He said the 3rd defendant narrated that the iPhone was gifted to her by Chidinma, and she had questioned the first defendant where she got the phone from and she said it was one of her boyfriends that gave her.

The case has been adjourned till October 20, for continuation of trial.