The alleged murder case file of the 21-year-old Mass Communication student of the University of Lagos.(UNILAG), Chidinma Ojukwu, who allegedly stabbed the Chief Executive Officer ?CEO), of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, to death has been demanded by the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Usman Baba, for onwards investigation.
Unsatisfied with alleged delay and turn of events, the police Chief ordered that the suspect be moved to the force headquarters, Abuja, for thorough investigation.
It was gathered that IGP Baba, has directed the Force Criminal Investigative Department to handle the matter discreetly and unravel the mystery behind the alleged killing.
The case recently took a different dimension, as Chidinma made a U-turn from her earlier confession that she did by kill Ataga.
Chidinma who had attributed her action to influence of hard drugs and smoking, said: “I started smoking after I got into UNILAG.”
The undergraduate said she and Ataga were “having fun” when an argument broke out and she stabbed him twice.
Chidinma, pleaded with Ataga family to forgive her saying she doesn’t want to die over the case, has denied carrying out the dastardly act.
Read her earlier confession: “I regret killing Mr Ataga. I don’t know what my future holds but I don’t want to die. Please, I don’t want to die because of this case. I have not killed before.
“I was just trying to comport myself to answer questions during the parade and not that I am not showing remorse. I totally regretted everything I did and I am sorry.
“Mr Ataga’s family, I am deeply sorry for what I did. If I had my life back, I wouldn’t do anything like that. I am deeply sorry and I hope you forgive me.”
In a dramatic twist, Chidinma Ojukwu, the prime suspect in the murder of Lagos businessman Usifo Ataga has denied killing him.
Ojukwu, 21, on June 24, gave what looked like a vivid account of how she stabbed the SuperTV boss to death during a struggle while allegedly under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
But in a recent interview she granted the police media team which was aired by Crime Fighter TV, a police sponsored programme, Ojukwu claimed she walked into the room from an errand only to find Ataga stabbed, blood everywhere and the apartment in shambles.
In the eight minutes and eight seconds video, Ojukwu spotting a new hairdo, wore a different set of clothing and looked quite refreshed and unruffled.
She claimed her earlier admission of stabbing Ataga to death was made under pressure and fear that people would not believe her.
She said someone probably entered the apartment when she left to get the things they needed, killed Ataga, scattered the place and left before her arrival.
Chidinma claimed she felt guilty for not alerting the police and for stealing from her lover after discovering what happened to him, adding that she messaged the person who rented the apartment to her days later to send someone to check on Ataga as she had not heard from him.
Describing Ataga’s personality, Chidinma said he did not speak much about himself and was a very busy man.
She said: “I would say at some point I got to know that he used to womanise, smoked, drank and took drugs also. So, I don’t know much about him. He got angry easily. He had issues with his wife but his children were worth his time as a family man.
“He wasn’t in a happy marriage. He was just more of catering for his kids. I don’t remember some of his friends that I have met but I remember some of their faces are kind of really odd. I have met two people that said they are his friends or something.
“I do not have N10 million in my bank account. I have like N400,000 or N500,000. Michael gave me his laptop. He had two laptops so I told him I wanted a laptop, he gave me one and that was what I sold to get the money. It was MacPro.”
Ojukwu said she went to buy food and drugs for herself and Ataga, stressing that upoy her return, she found the door open.
She said, “When I came in, the duvet was on the floor, there were pillows and the couch was facing the door and the bed was stained with blood already.
“The floor where he was, there was blood and the TV was on. The room was already disarranged like someone broke in and I didn’t know what to do so I took my things and left.
“I was afraid. I didn’t know if I had raised the alarm they would have arrested me because I and him were the only people in the room and I left.
“I took his bag that contained his ID, documents and bank statement. I took his phone.
“I had nothing to do with his death. The lady that rented the apartment to me, I messaged her that she should please send the security guy to check on him that I haven’t heard from him. They came to my house and arrested me and they took me to the station.
“I didn’t involve anybody. Somebody must have broken into the apartment. Definitely somebody did that but I don’t know who that person is. I don’t know what happened when I left to buy the food.”
Ataga’s friend Okoedo Adomi, has told police they discovered something was wrong with him through the wordings of a text message sent through his phone by someone who impersonated him.
Adomi disclosed this in a video interview aired by Crime Fighter TV, a police sponsored programme, where he stated that he spoke with Ataga last on June 14.
According to him, the late businessman was more of a talking than a texting person, adding that he usually returned calls immediately he missed them.
Adomi told the police that the composition of a text message sent to one of Ataga’s partners, Rahman, which he saw made him suspicious and that was how they went in search of him.
He said there was no way Ataga would have composed a text message that way, adding that he also called many times with no response.
