Chidinma Ojukwu, the suspect murderer of Super TV Chief Executive Officer, Usifo Ataga, has alleged that she was forced by the police to sign a statement they wrote.
Chidinma made the claim on Thursday, November 17 while appearing before a Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square.
The former 300-level Mass Communication undergraduate of the University of Lagos who is standing trial alongside one Adedapo Quadri and her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, claimed that the two statements she wrote were torn and she was forced to sign the one allegedly written by ASP Olusegun Bamidele.
Asides from being forced to sign another statement allegedly dictated to her by officer Olufunke Madeyinlo, the murder suspect also claimed that Bamidele asked her to rehearse the statement and narrate it to the Commissioner of Police (CP).
She further alleged that before being taken to the CP’s office at Ikeja, her hands were handcuffed to the chair she sat in from June 23 till the next morning on June 24, 2021.
Recounting how her ordeal in the hands of the police began, Chidinma disclosed that she was in her room at their house, at No. 47 Akinwunmi St., Alagomeji Yaba, on June 23, 2021, when her 10-year-old little sister informed her that there were men at the sitting room asking after her.
She said after coming to the sitting room to see them, they asked if she was Chidinma and she answered yes. They reportedly asked her the whereabouts of Mr. Ataga’s phone and the Range Rover jeep and she said she did not know.
Chidinma said when the police arrested her, she asked her father to call their family lawyer, Mr. Onwuka Egwu.
She said that she was taken to DCP Razak Oseni’s office where police officers asked her a lot of questions.
“We went back to my house and back to the DCP’s office.
“At DCP’s office, he asked me questions. I told him that I don’t know anything about the death of Mr. Ataga, that was when they made the video that was played in court.
“The DCP said I should make my statement. IPO Bamidele, therefore, took me to the interrogation room with Mr. Chris, gave me a blank statement form, and asked me to write what happened.
“I started writing, Bamidele took my left hand and handcuffed it to the chair. I wrote what I narrated at the DCP’s office.
“While I was writing, Bamidele took the statement from me, read it, and said it was not what happened.
“I told him, sir, what I am writing is what happened. I also told him that I asked my father to call my lawyer, and he said my Dad cannot make a call because he was in custody with them. I then started writing the statement.
“When he took the statement from me and said this is not what happened. I told him, sir, this is what happened. I received two slaps from the back of Mr. Jemiyo.
“Jemiyo and Chris were sitting behind me, the only person facing me was Bamidele. He said, ‘you are going to write the truth.
“He tore all the statements I had written and presented another blank statement form. I told him, ‘sir, I was writing the truth, you tore it.
“He said if I do not comply, my family, my Dad, 10-year-old sister, and my relatives will be charged with this murder case,” Chidinma said.
When asked if she reported to anybody that she was slapped and that her head was hit on the table, she said “I did not report to anybody because there was nobody to report to”.
After Chidinma’s testimony at the trial, the judge gave the prosecution and the defense 14 days each to file their written addresses in the trial within trial.
Justice Adesanya then adjourned the case until January 11, 2023, for the adoption of final written addresses in the trial within the trial.
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