The back-and-forth controversy surrounding the murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Mr Usifo Ataga has taken another dimension as new video emerged on Monday, where Chidinma Ojukwu, a 21-year-old student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) denied killing Ataga.
Chidinma had earlier confessed how she stabbed Ataga to death while the duo were lodged in a service apartment located in Lekki, Lagos State.
Chidinma, the prime suspect in the murder made the confession while being paraded by the Lagos Police Command. During the bold-face confession, Chidinma stated that she and the deceased were smoking and drinking before an argument ensued, which made her stabbed Ataga twice in the neck.
However, Chidinma, in an interview with Crime Fighters, claimed she didn’t kill Ataga, making a u-turn from her earlier confession.
According to her, she only admitted her involvement in the crime at the time because nobody believed her.
The 21-year-old suspect during the interview claimed that she went out to get food and drugs for the duo, saying that she met the deceased in a pool of his own blood when she returned to the service apartment.
Recall that the family of the deceased had claimed that their son and brother was assaulted and tortured to death after being gagged.
The deceased’s elder brother, Dr. Isi Ataga in a statement said: “And no one in the entire building heard his screams because he was gagged. Let that sink in, he was bound, gagged and tortured!
“The now-viral video of the room with the deceased lying on the floor shows a room with blood-stained walls and floor, evidence of a ferocious struggle. One person could never have carried these out.”
Watch Chidinma’s U-turn Video:
Meanwhile, Chidinma during the interview claimed that the fear of being arrested by the police informed her decision not to report the matter before she left the apartment for her house.
She also denied withdrawing N5 million from the deceased’s account. She, however, admitted withdrawing N200,000.
In her words, “We went out to eat, and also to get drinks, and we were just indoor watching movie, drinking, smoking. He woke up before me but I was still feeling sleepy and dizzy because of the smoke, drink and the drug. So he asked what we needed. So, I told him we need to buy food and drugs, because the drugs that we brought already finished. He sent the money to the account, while the other one he gave me his card because he was trying to make the payment and it didn’t go through. I didn’t have access to the card but I know the pin code.
“Before I left, he stood up to lock the door but when I got back I knocked and there was no answer. So I opened the door and it wasn’t locked. I saw the duvet on the floor plus pillows, the couch was facing the door. The bed was stained with blood already and the floor where he laid was filled with blood. The music was on, the TV was also on, the room was already disarranged like someone broke in. I saw him on the floor, I didn’t know what to do, so I took my things and his things and left. I was scared and afraid, I didn’t know if I had raised alarm they would have arrested me because I was the only one with him in the room.
“I just left. I was packing my things to leave when I noticed my cloth was stained so I changed it to another. I took the bag that contained his ID, documents and bank statement. My bag was already on the floor, I met it on the floor and then his stuff that I took was on the TV set, so I just packed everything inside the bag and left. The following week, I went out to withdraw some money from the atm that I was with, I withdrew N200k.
“Before his death, he already told me he will give me the money I requested for and when I came out and arrested, they said I made away with N5 million, there was no N5m in the account. I just did it is not that I had something do with this death. I never had anything to do with his death.
“I didn’t involve anybody. I don’t know who must have come into the apartment. Definitely, somebody did that but I don’t know who that person is. I don’t know what happened when I left the room to buy food. Because of what I did after by not alerting the police and also withdrawing money from his account, I feel guilty for what happened but I did not kill him,” she said.
“I believe someone knew where we were and waited till I left before they entered. Due to pressure and insistence of the security operatives that nobody entered the room apart from the two, I resolved that since no one believed me, let me just take the blame.”
“No one is influencing my statements. I have not spoken to anyone since my arrest, not even my relation or anybody close to me,” she added.
