With the brutal murder of Super TV Chief Executive Officer, Michael Usifo Ataga by 21-year-old Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu, a 300-level Mass Communication student of University of Lagos,
Chiemelie Ezeobi reports that amid effort by the police to unravel the intricacies, and appeal by the bereaved family, the case has painted the picture of a girl who seemingly lived double lives
When the police from the Lagos State Police Command came knocking at the Lagos home of Mr. Ojukwu, an accountant, he first pondered why they were there. Nothing prepared his mind for the shocker their visit would bring- his 21-year-old daughter was accused of murder.
At first, he refused to believe them. In fact, he was said to have attempted to fight off the operatives when they tried to arrest her. But he was eventually overpowered and arrested too given that he tried to obstruct justice, albeit naively.
His daughter, Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu, a 300-level student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) had murdered sleep after she brutally stabbed the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, and a Director in Super Network Limited, Michael Usifo Ataga, to death after alleged bouts of pleasure.
Who would blame him? On the said day the murder was purportedly committed, the suspect had told her father that she was going for an ushering job. Knowing the financial status of the family and being not the first time she went for such “jobs”, he had no qualms in allowing her to go.
Disappearance
When the case of the deceased first got to the public sphere, it was more of a case of a missing person. Some of his family and friends first reported him missing and frantic efforts were made to reach him to no avail.
Corpse Found
Unfortunately, when he was finally found, it was his corpse that was seen. The service cleaner at a short service apartment in Lekki, found his corpse when she accessed the suite to clean it. The police were then invited.
Flashback
To unravel the murder, the first line of step for the police was to identify the corpse but that was a tad difficult since the assailant stripped him of all identifiable including his phone. Another attempt to track him through payment for the apartment showed it was a lady that made payment. With that clue, they also watched the CCTV footage, which showed moments that they entered.
The Arrest
The next attempt was tracking down the suspect to her father’s house in Yaba where she was arrested to the shock of all present. She confessed to the crime during interrogation but clarified that her father had no knowledge of the act. This prompted the police to release him on bail. The police also released one Nkechi Mogbo, the lady who operated the service apartment where the murder took place.
Confession
The suspect, who was paraded last Thursday at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja, confessed to the crime, adding that the scuffle that led to his death was because the deceased had allegedly forced her for another bout after several rounds of sex.
She admitted to have stabbed him severally during the scuffle, tied him up and left him to bleed to death. She then proceeded to take his ATM cards, his phones and laptops, the latter which she formated and sold at Computer Village before the police arrested her.
In her confession, she said she was hooked up with the deceased by her friend four months ago and they had a smooth relationship until the scuffle.
On the day of the incident, the suspect, who resides with her father at Yaba, told them she was going for an ushering job but went on to meet with the deceased at the short-let apartment. According to her, prior to the sex, they had taken some intoxicating drugs like “SK” and when the man attempted to go for another round, she had refused but he had his way with her.
She said they had first engaged in an argument before the deceased allegedly tried to choke her, an act she said made her to stab him twice before she fled the apartment.
The Drug Factor
The suspect during interrogation had claimed that they both took tons of “SK” and “Loud”, both very potent drugs that made them inebriated.
Controversies
Ataga’s death has become a subject of speculation and all sorts of conspiracy theories with most bothering on the absurd. Also, it has been riddled with so much misinformation and hearsay. Some unknown posts have been circulated about how she was a serial blackmailer while others showed her in a provision store where she sells drinks. Yet another video showed her puffing cigarettes without recourse, all painting the picture of a girl who lived double lives.
Bereaved Family
For the Ataga family, his death was one too painful to decipher, especially with the way it happened. Thursday, June 17, which was the morning of his birthday, was actually the day they realised he was dead.
Ironically, his mother had taken to Facebook that Thursday, a popular social media platform, to wish him a happy birthday without an inkling that his dead body was found on Wednesday by the short-let apartment when the service cleaner accessed the flat to clean it.
The third boy in a family of four- three boys and a girl, the deceased had told few friends and family that he planned to travel to Abuja so when they didn’t see him, they were not alarmed. It was only until Thursday that they were informed that he was missing.
Given the hullabaloo the case has generated, especially with the sprinkle of misinformation, the family had on Sunday called for restraint, just as they appealed to members of the public with useful information on the gruesome murder of their son to give such information to the police. As reported by THISDAY, the family spokesperson, Dr Isi Ataga, said they also have questions of their own, adding that the facts as revealed by the police so far didn’t add up.
In the statement issued by the family, they said: “We ask, sincerely, that you let us grieve this terrible loss with some privacy. This past week and a half has been the worst period of our lives.Here are the facts. A little over a week ago, unknown persons savagely killed our beloved son, Usifo Ataga. With no regard for him, or his family, who love him, they viciously ended his life.
“His children will grow up to read unkind, thoughtless words from thousands of people who have joined the lynching party in the press and the blogosphere. Our aging parents must now struggle to pick up the pieces amid a cacophony of misinformation propagated by strangers.
“A suspect has been arrested and paraded before the press. We, the Ataga Family, are grateful to the Nigerian Police for pursuing this investigation. However, like you, we have many unanswered questions. Some things don’t add up. If you have any information, don’t hide behind online posts. Instead, come forward and share it with the police.
“Here’s what we do know. The more you add to the false information in the press and on social media, the harder it is for the Nigerian Police to do their work and fully solve this case. The harder it is for a grieving family to recover from the loss of their beloved son.”
Police Angle
At the parade of the suspect last Thursday, the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu said following investigation, the suspect was picked up at her parent’s home at Alagomeji, Yaba, adding that efforts are ongoing to apprehend and cause other culprits involved in the heinous crime to face the full weight of the law and justice.
According to him, the suspect had conspired with others, now at large, to murder Ataga. He said part of the exhibits recovered were one drivers license, complimentary cards, Access Bank Statement Account and one Nigeria International Passport with No.B50010434 belonging to the suspect, one fake drivers license bearing Mary Johnson with the suspect’s photograph.
Others include one National Identification Card bearing the suspect’s name, one UBA ATM debit card bearing the suspect’s name and one
University of Lagos ID card bearing the suspect’s name.
However, the murder weapon- a knife, was still missing as the suspect confessed that she disposed of it in a dustbin near her house. This is just as Odumosu said the case will be
charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded.
He said: ” The command, due to its unrelenting and professional commitment in unraveling the incident, swung into action, deployed its human
and material resources to apprehend the prime suspect on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at about 9pm at her Yaba residence; and she is being paraded today.
“The suspect conspired with others, now at large to allegedly murder one Michael Usifo Ataga, m, 50, by stabbing him severally with a sharp object at a short service apartment…
“The prime suspect, Chidinma, who had earlier booked for the apartment on
13/6/21 secretly, left the apartment after the deed had been done on 15/6/21 at about 1730hrs. The suspect was tracked and arrested in her resident at No. 57 Akinwunmi Street, Alagomeji, Yaba-Lagos.
” During search, the prime suspect
and Mass Communication Student of the University of Lagos, was caught with
a blood-soaked cloth, ostensibly worn on the day of the incident. The suspect confessed to have stabbed the deceased with a kitchen knife after a struggle.
“She further confessed to have taken the knife away while leaving the scene and
disposed same in a dust bin at her residence. It has also been revealed that the suspect equally stole the deceased iPhone. Investigation is ongoing to arrest other accomplices.”
Intricacies
She was unassuming, innocent-looking and some might even say naive. But that was the extent family and friends, and even neighbours and classmates knew her. To all who knew her, had she not confessed to the crime, they certainly won’t have believed her capable of such.
When the news first broke, many waved it off as a crime of passion, while others weighed in the ‘rape’ accusation, especially since she alleged he took a date rape drug too. But with further revelations showing she allegedly tied him up after stabbing him, took his ATM to make withdrawals, sold his phone and wiped off the contents of his laptop, the public soon began to refer to her as a femme fatale.
Also, police revelations that she has a fake driving license bearing “Mary Johnson” with her photograph, as well as the videos popping up that showed her proficiency in smoking and handling of scissors, wilted the initial support she had garnered.
While many still ponder what led her to take such life-changing drastic decision, it still behoves the police to unravel all intricacies including their position that she probably had accomplices.
But more importantly, her action has caused all to ponder how she was able to successfully show two complete facets of her life to the world. Whatever the case may be, her fate now lies in the hands of the court and the evidence gathered by the police.
Nonetheless, while hers may be a case of aborted dreams for her future, that of the deceased had become that of a life abruptly cut short in its prime.
(Thisday)
