The lifeless body of Michael Usifo Ataga, the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, and a director in Super Network Limited, a telecoms firm, has been found in a rental apartment in Lagos days after he was allegedly stabbed to death.
His alleged side chick is being hunted, while the owner of the AirBnB apartment where Ataga’s body was found has been picked up for interrogation by security operatives.
Ataga, who resides in Banana Island, was reported missing on Sunday, June 13, by his family and friends after he didn’t return to his home in Banana Island and he also didn’t turn up at his Victoria Island office.
All efforts to reach Ataga, who would have turned 50 years old on June 18, proved abortive and this caused distress to his wife and children, who live in Abuja.
Unfortunately, his lifeless body was found on Friday morning, June 18, in a flat in Lekki phase 1 with multiple stab wounds, according to The Street Journal.
Several withdrawals had been made from his account by then.
Ataga, who is married to a manager in Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is said to have met the side chick sometime ago and they began a relationship.
To avoid nosy neighbours, Ataga allegedly decided to rent an Airbnb in Lekki, Lagos, where they both checked in to before the unfortunate incident, the publication reports.
Following his disappearance, concerned friends, family members, the police and DSS operatives all the way from Abuja through the concerted efforts of Ataga’s wife, tracked down the owner of the Airbnb, who received payment from the side chick’s bank account into which Ataga had previously made a transfer for the payment.
The apartment was broken into and that was where Ataga was found dead with multiple stab wounds in his neck, chest and thigh.
5 million Naira had been withdrawn from his account before he was killed.
The side chick who was last seen on Tuesday, June 15, when the murder happened, was nowhere to be found.
Ataga was an amateur boxer and reportedly very strong so his death has come as a shock to friends.
Also, after the side chick left the apartment following Ataga’s gruesome death, money began to disappear from Ataga’s GTB account. The withdrawals only stopped when an email asked for a change in his account details.
With this, GTBank put an embargo on the account to prevent any further withdrawal.
The mistress is reportedly a prime suspect in Ataga’s murder as security guards at the rentals confirmed that no third party had visited the lovers besides a dispatch rider who made a delivery.
Investigations are still on and the case is still unfolding.
