A 21-year-old undergraduate of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) , Chidinma Ojukwu, yesterday explained why she stabbed the chief executive officer of SuperTV, Usifo Ataga, to death in the Lekki area of Lagos State.
Ojukwu who spoke at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja yesterday after she was paraded as a suspect by the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu said she had been in a romantic relationship with 50-year-old Ataga for about four months before the ugly incident occurred on Tuesday, 15 June, 2021, at a Short Service Apartment, situated at No 19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki, Phase 1, Lagos.
Ojukwu, a 300-level student of mass communication said she and Ataga were “having fun” when an argument broke out and she stabbed him twice.
She said, “We were in the lodge smoking. He was trying to make advances on me. I was tired and he became violent. I let him have his way. Towards afternoon, he ordered roofies. We took it together and ate food. He became high. I was still not happy with the first one (sex) that we had, so, I was staying on my own, smoking and drinking. He, too, was on his own.
“He came to me and I was like I am not happy with what he did. I was like, ‘You don’t help me, you don’t assist me with anything, you are just playing with me around’. He was like, ‘Take my ATM and withdraw what you want’.”
The undergraduate, ashamed, couldn’t look directly into the camera, as she said, “He later became violent trying to get to me and I was resisting and defending myself. At some point, he hit my head on the wall and I also retaliated.
“At some point, he was chasing me around the kitchen cabinet. I took a knife and stabbed his neck. I approached the door and he followed me. I stabbed him twice on the neck. I threw the knife to the bed and he was going for it but I also went for it. He dragged the knife with me and it broke and he fell on the floor.”
According to the undergraduate, after stabbing the late CEO, she withdrew N380,000 from his account using his ATM card.
The state’s commissioner of police, Hakeem Odumosu, at a news conference in Ikeja, said the command had arrested the prime suspect involved in the gruesome murder of Ataga, which occurred on 15th June, 2021, at an apartment in Lekki area of Lagos State.
He said the command, due to its professional commitment in unraveling the incident, swung into action, deployed its human and material resources to apprehend the prime suspect on Wednesday 23rd June, 2021 at about 9pm at her Yaba residence.
Odumosu said the command would intensify efforts in carrying out thorough investigation into the matter, apprehend and cause other culprits involved in the heinous crime to face the full weight of the law and justice done in the matter.
He said the suspect, Ojukwu was arrested with one driver’s licence, complimentary cards, Access Bank statement account, one Nigeria International Passport with No.B50010434, one fake driver’s licence bearing Mary Johnson with the suspect’s photograph, 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.
“A case of murder was transferred from Maroko Division of the Command to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti Yaba, for discreet investigation. The fact of the case is that, on 15/06/21 at about 1700hrs, one Chidimma Adaora Ojukwu, a 300 level, undergraduate of the University of Lagos, conspired with others, now at Large, and allegedly murdered one Michael Usifo Ataga, 50, by stabbing him severally with a sharp object at a Short Service Apartment, situated at No 19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki, phase 1, Lagos.”
