Men of the Lagos state police command have also arrested the father of Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu, the 300 level student of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, who confessed to killing the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Michael Usifo Ataga.
A police source who spoke on condition of anonymity to PUNCH, said Chidinma’s father was arrested for violently resisting the arrest of his daughter when the police visited their home on Wednesday, June 23, to pick her up.
The source added that the man did not believe that his daughter committed any crime until she confessed on Thursday, adding that he was being detained at the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba.
“She (Chidinma) stays with her dad. Her dad and mom don’t live together. Her father was arrested on Wednesday because he resisted his daughter’s arrest. He never believed that his daughter committed any crime until Thursday. He is at Panti as we speak, but he was not paraded today (Thursday),”
the source said.
Meanwhile, lecturers and students of the Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, are reacting to the news of the murder. A lecturer in the department, who spoke to PUNCH on condition of anonymity said:
“I know her (Chidinma) because of her beauty and innocent look. She is an introvert to the core. Left for her striking beauty, she is not likely to be noticed by anyone, because she doesn’t talk in class.”
Another lecturer also confirmed that Chidinma is a 300-level student in the department. The lecturer said:
“Yes, in our group chats, where there are several professors, it was confirmed that she is a 300-level part time student of Mass Communication, UNILAG.”
One of the classmates, who also spoke on condition of anonymity said:
“Yes, she (Chidinma) is a 300-level part time student of Mass Communication. I know her, but we are not on talking terms; she doesn’t interact with many people. She is a recluse.
She is a cool girl, who comes for lectures and leaves afterwards; she has few friends, who she talks to. I don’t really know much about her.”
Another student said he had not seen her in the current semester, adding that their lectures could not hold on Thursday as the lecturers did not turn up. He said:
“I have not seen her this semester since we resumed on May 10. We were supposed to have lectures today, but the lecturers did not come. Likewise, her issue has been a major topic on our WhatsApp platform; it was a chaotic debate as members took sides.”
Chidinma while being paraded by the police, recounted how she stabbed the deceased thrice. She said late Ataga became violent after she turned down his request for more sex, adding that she stabbed him under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
“I checked for the place we lodged in online on Sunday and sent the details to him and he paid. 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.”
She said when Ataga, who would have turned 50 this month, became weak, she fled the apartment and withdrew money from his account for her school fees. She narrated further:
“We smoked SK and Loud. While he was lying there, I changed my cloth, looked for the key from where he kept it, and left the room. When I left, I didn’t reach out to anybody. I didn’t feel good about what I did.
I withdrew N380,000 and not N5m from his account. I feel a lot of remorse. I wanted to use the money I withdrew to pay my school fees. I felt disappointed when the police arrested me at my parents’ house and it was when I was arrested around 10pm that my parents got to know about the incident.
I live with my parents; I left home on Sunday and told them that I was going for ushering job. I used the foreign number I generated in texting the owner of the apartment.”
