In a dramatic twist, Chidinma Ojukwu, the prime suspect in the murder of Lagos businessman Usifo Ataga has denied killing him.
Ojukwu, 21, on June 24, gave what looked like a vivid account of how she stabbed the SuperTV boss to death during a struggle while allegedly under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
But in a recent interview she granted the police media team which was aired by Crime Fighter TV, a police sponsored programme, Ojukwu claimed she walked into the room from an errand only to find Ataga stabbed, blood everywhere and the apartment in shambles.
In the eight minutes and eight seconds video, Ojukwu spotting a new hairdo, wore a different set of clothing and looked quite refreshed and unruffled.
She claimed her earlier admission of stabbing Ataga to death was made under pressure and fear that people would not believe her.
She said someone probably entered the apartment when she left to get the things they needed, killed Ataga, scattered the place and left before her arrival.
Chidinma claimed she felt guilty for not alerting the police and for stealing from her lover after discovering what happened to him, adding that she messaged the person who rented the apartment to her days later to send someone to check on Ataga as she had not heard from him.
Describing Ataga’s personality, Chidinma said he did not speak much about himself and was a very busy man.
She said: “I would say at some point I got to know that he used to womanise, smoked, drank and took drugs also. So, I don’t know much about him. He got angry easily. He had issues with his wife but his children were worth his time as a family man.
“He wasn’t in a happy marriage. He was just more of catering for his kids. I don’t remember some of his friends that I have met but I remember some of their faces are kind of really odd. I have met two people that said they are his friends or something.
“I do not have N10 million in my bank account. I have like N400,000 or N500,000. Michael gave me his laptop. He had two laptops so I told him I wanted a laptop, he gave me one and that was what I sold to get the money. It was MacPro.”
Ojukwu said he went to buy food and drugs for herself and Ataga.
Upon her return, she found the door open.
She said, “When I came in, the duvet was on the floor, there were pillows and the couch was facing the door and the bed was stained with blood already.
“The floor where he was, there was blood and the TV was on. The room was already disarranged like someone broke in and I didn’t know what to do so I took my things and left.
“I was afraid. I didn’t know if I had raised the alarm they would have arrested me because I and him were the only people in the room and I left.
“I took his bag that contained his ID, documents and bank statement. I took his phone.
“I had nothing to do with his death. The lady that rented the apartment to me, I messaged her that she should please send the security guy to check on him that I haven’t heard from him. They came to my house and arrested me and they took me to the station.
“I didn’t involve anybody. Somebody must have broken 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 to buy the food.”
Ataga’s friend Okoedo Adomi, has told police they discovered something was wrong with him through the wordings of a text message sent through his phone by someone who impersonated him.
Adomi disclosed this in a video interview aired by Crime Fighter TV, a police sponsored programme, where he stated that he spoke with Ataga last on June 14.
According to him, the late businessman was more of a talking than a texting person, adding that he usually returned calls immediately he missed them.
Adomi told the police that the composition of a text message sent to one of Ataga’s partners, Rahman, which he saw made him suspicious and that was how they went in search of him.
He said there was no way Ataga would have composed a text message that way, adding that he also called many times with no response.
