Chidinma Ojukwu, a 300-level student of the University of Lagos, who is standing trial for the alleged murder of Super TV Chief Executive Officer, Michael Ataga, on Monday, told a Lagos State High Court that she did not report the incident to the police because she was afraid.
Chidinma, in her defence before Justice Yetunde Adesanya at the Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, explained that she feared being wrongly accused if she reported the crime.
“I had read of incidents where people reported crimes and ended up being accused themselves,” she said.
“I also thought of calling the gateman again while I was at the staircase of the apartment, but I ended the call out of fear.”
They were arraigned on October 12, 2021, on a nine-count charge preferred against her.
The defendant who opened her case on April 17, 2025, narrated the events that followed the discovery of Ataga’s lifeless body.
Chidinma gave a detailed account of her activities from June 16 to 23, 2021.
Led in evidence by her counsel, Onwuka Egwu, the defendant recounted that on June 16, 2021, she noticed that a WhatsApp message she had sent earlier to Ataga had been read and that his status was showing “online,” even though she had seen him lying motionless in a pool of blood.
She said she attempted to call his number several times, but the calls were declined. “I was confused. I asked myself if someone else had his phone,” she said.
Chidinma testified that she contacted the gateman known as Abu, who usually handled utilities at the short-let apartment.
When she asked him if he had seen Ataga, she said he replied that Ataga had left the previous day. However, the gateman later informed her that Ataga’s car was still parked at the property.
“Judging by what Abu told me, I said to myself, what have I done? I then sent a WhatsApp message to Michael saying, ‘Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to leave you in that state. I was very scared.’ After that, I was blocked from the number and couldn’t reach him again,” she said.
Chidinma stated that she had two laptops, one Macbook and one HP laptop, and on June 18, 2021, she took them to Computer Village, one for sale and the other for repair.
She said that when she got to the vendor, whom she normally purchased from, and gave him the Macbook, for sale, the vendor asked her for the receipt.
“I said it was a gift from last December 2020, and then the manager entered and asked me to unlock the Macbook laptop so that he could check very well.
“Then I unlocked the laptop, they checked whatever they wanted to check and then asked me how much I wanted to sell. I said N600,000, we negotiated then it got sold for N495,000. He then asked me to sign out of the i-cloud, I signed out and the money was transferred into my bank account, and then I took the HP laptop for repair.”
The defendant also described events on June 19 and 20, 2021, stating that she attempted to reach Ataga through SMS due to a poor network connection.
Chidinma told the court that on June 20, 2021, she spoke with her sister, Chioma (the third defendant), and invited her over.
Chioma, who was in the eastern part of the country at the time, visited her on June 22, 2021.
According to Chidinma, Chioma had misplaced her phone in April when she travelled to the East.
She testified that she was arrested by the police on June 23, 2021.
Chidinma, who denied having Ataga’s property, claimed that one of the officers slapped her, but her father intervened.
She said they were both handcuffed and taken to the police station at Panti.
“At the DCP’s office, I told him I didn’t know about the death. I said I ran out of fear and took my things. My father was also handcuffed. The DCP said he was interfering with the officers’ work,” she recounted.
She further told the court that the police later took them to her residence, where they recovered her phones, laptop, a black disposable bag containing clothes, some documents from the apartment, and ID cards.
Chidinma alleged that she was then taken to a smaller room where her left hand was handcuffed to a chair.
She said an officer identified as Bamidele brought a blank statement form and asked her to write a statement.
“I told him I knew my rights and that a lawyer should be present. He said no lawyer was coming, and no one would be allowed to see me,” she claimed.
She further alleged that Bamidele threatened her, saying her family members, including her 10-year-old sister, could be detained if she did not cooperate.
“Because of what he said, I started writing,” she said.
After writing her statement, Ojukwu said Bamidele tore it up and demanded a new version.
He allegedly showed her graphic images from the crime scene and claimed that a robe recovered from the apartment was used to tie the deceased’s hands, an allegation she denied.
“I told him I couldn’t have tied Michael up. He was a huge man,” she said.
