Men of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested the father of the killer of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga.
The police, in a statement by the command’s spokesperson, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, alleged that the suspect did not only withdraw money from the account of the late executive, but also made away with his iPhone.
He also disclosed that the suspect threw the murder weapon in a dustbin in her residence.
The Punch quoted an anonymous source who disclosed that the father of Chidinma Ojukwu, who allegedly murdered the CEO, was picked up by the police at their residence, No. 57 Akinwunmi Street, Alagomeji, Yaba, on Wednesday for allegedly resisting the arrest of his daughter.
The father who did not believe his daughter could be involved in any crime allegedly became violent with the policemen who went to arrest his daughter.
The father was said to have got a shock of his life when his daughter confessed on Thursday. The man is currently with the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba.
Chidinma, a 300-level part-time student of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, apparently kept a low profile in school, with many acquaintances and fellow students describing her as quiet and introverted.
However, the Arochukwu, Abia State-born suspect apparently lived on the wild side oblivious to her peers.
At the police headquarters on Thursday, she confessed to smoking, drinking and taking of drugs.
She disclosed that on the day of the incident that led to the death of Mr Ataga, she and the deceased took SK and Loud, in addition to alcohol.
While parading the undergraduate, Lagos police commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, disclosed that casual workers cleaning the apartment where the crime happened discovered Ataga’s remains.
He said, “The victim, one Usifo Michael Ataga, happened to operate a media house. The lady, Chidinma Ojukwu, 21, a 300-level Mass Communication student of the University of Lagos, checked into the service apartment in Lekki with the man on a Sunday.
“They were there together as friends, but on Tuesday, she departed and left the man inside. So, when the man did not come out on Tuesday and Wednesday, those who were evacuating the trash bins went in to do their normal duty and discovered that the door to the apartment was half opened.
“When they entered, Ataga was found on the floor in a pool of blood. He wore only his pair of boxers. So, we started our investigation and we were able to track the prime suspect and got her arrested. She has confessed to the crime.
“She said the drugs and alcohol that both of then took got them high and they were trying to have fun, but she resisted and the man insisted on having his way and that led to the fracas. She reached out for the kitchen knife and stabbed the man twice in the neck and once in the stomach. After he died, she took his belongings and fled.”
Narrating her side of the story to newsmen after her parade, Chidinma said Ataga had first round of sex with her against her will and after a few hours wanted another round, which she resisted.
The fight escalated very quickly culminating in her stabbing him under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
According to her, she found the apartment online and sent the details to Ataga who paid and they checked in on Sunday.
Chidinma said, “On Monday, we were together drinking and smoking, we had fun and so I went to get food. On Tuesday, he was trying to make advances at me, but I was tired and he became violent and forced his way and I gave in.
“In the afternoon, we smoked and ate. We became high and I wasn’t happy with the first round of sex; so, I was on my own smoking, drinking and eating my food when he came to me, while I was watching a movie.
“I told him I was not happy with what he did the first time. I told him he was not assisting me with anything, but was playing around with me. He told me to take his ATM card and withdraw any amount I wanted and gave me the PIN, but I told him that was not what I meant.
“So, he became violent; I was defending myself and at some point, he hit my head on the wall and I retaliated. He was choking me and I was on the kitchen cabinet, so I stretched out and grabbed a knife and stabbed him twice in the neck and once in the stomach.”
While he was lying there, she changed her dress and left the apartment and went to an ATM to withdraw N380,000 from the man’s account, which she claimed she wanted to use to pay her school fees.
Part of the items recovered from the suspect was a fake driving licence bearing Mary Johnson with the suspect’s photograph.
