Ojukwu suggested that while she was out of the short-let apartment where she and Ataga wined, dined, did illegal drugs and had sex, someone entered the room and killed him.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Chidinma Ojukwu, the prime suspect in the alleged murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, has taken back her earlier statement that she killed him.
In a video played in Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) on Tuesday, Ms Ojukwu backtracked on her previous ‘confession’ of stabbing Mr Ataga in the neck, ribs and stomach.
She also denied knowing who killed him, adding that she found his corpse on the floor.
Ojukwu suggested that while she was out of the short-let apartment where she and Ataga wined, dined, did illegal drugs and had sex, someone entered the room and killed him.
The court, on October 11, 2022, watched a video recording of Ojukwu confessing to stabbing Ataga, all by herself because he was bothering her “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 a handkerchief,” Ojukwu said in the footage.
“There was nobody that assisted me, I did it alone,” she added, during interrogation by a team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Olusegun Bamidele from the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba.
Ojukwu, a 300-level, Mass Communication student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), 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, following their arraignment before Justice 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.
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Chidinma Ojukwu confesses to killing Usifo Ataga in video played in court
At the resumption of proceedings on Tuesday, the prosecution played another video recording showing Ojukwu responding to the question of why she denied knowing the deceased.
“I did not say that I didn’t know him, I said I did not kill him, I cannot kill somebody,” she said.
On why she said the blood stains on her clothes were from her monthly period, Ojukwu insisted that she could not have killed anyone.
“I don’t know who came in after I left the room. When I came back, I saw him (Ataga) bleeding. I had to leave because I was scared, I did not kill him, I don’t know who killed him.”
Asked why she did not call for help, the defendant emphasised that she was scared.
Ojukwu denied ordering for banned substances ‘Loud’ (a cannabis variant) and Rophynol, adding that Ataga ordered them while she merely went to receive them from a dispatched rider.
When the defendant was asked why she took the deceased’s two iPhones and a Mac laptop, she said they were among her things when she hurriedly left out of fear.
After the video stopped playing, prosecution counsel Yusuf Sule led DSP Bamidele in evidence.
The case was adjourned till October 20 for the continuation of trial.
