A Lagos High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square on Thursday heard how Chidinma transferred the sum of ₦5 million on 15th June 2021 from Usifo Ataga’s account to another account (Tus inwas on Tuesday, the day she said she stabbed Ataga for demanding for more sex in her confessional video statement).
The ninth prosecution witness DSP Olusegun Bamidele, told the court while testifying in the ongoing trial of the 300-level Mass Communication undergraduate of the University of Lagos Chidinma Ojukwu, who allegedly murdered Usifo Ataga, the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV.
The security guard of the Short Let Service apartment where Ataga was murdered, Abubakar Mohammed had during his evidence before the court on 16 November 2021, said that Chidinma left the apartment on Tuesday night, which was 15 June 2021 and never came back.
He had also told the court that it was on Wednesday, 16 June 2021, that the dead body of Ataga was discovered.
Chidinma is standing trial before Justice Yetunde Adesanya for the alleged murder of Ataga.
She is also charged with stealing and forgery alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu and Adedapo Quadri.
At the resumed hearing, of the case on Thursday, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DDPP), Mrs Adenike Oluwafemi, told the court that the matter was for continuation of trial.
Bamidele, who has not rounded off his evidence, was called into the witness box.
Oluwafemi asked for exhibit P11, which is the Access Bank Statement of Ataga and asked the witness to tell the court why he had the bank statements of the deceased.
The witness said that during investigation and in a bid to know what could have motivated the first defendant to kill the deceased and since they recorded Ataga’a bank, they wrote Access Bank asking for the bank statement of the deceased and a copy was given to them.
He said that from a close look at the copies of the bank statements, coupled with the fact that the phones of the deceased were already in the possession of the first defendant and has been in control of the account, she purchased airtime.
Bamidele said that on 15 June, the first defendant used the deceased’s phone to transfer ₦5 million from his account to another bank account.
“On 16 June 2021 four transactions of ₦20,000 were made from the deceased’s account. On 17 June, another withdrawal of ₦20,000 was made five times and the remarks were transfers between customers.
“On the same 16 June, ₦50,000 was transferred to Nkech Mogbo, and another ₦11,200 of funds was also transferred to Caprical Capital. On The same 16 June, another ₦50,000 was transferred from Ataga’s account to Mogbo and another ₦93,000 was transferred from Ataga’s GT Bank account to his Access Bank account.
“A transfer of ₦110,000.75kobo was debited from the deceased’s account on 18 June 2021.
” On 19 June 2021, a transfer of ₦20,000 was made four times. On that same day, another transfer of ₦20,000 was made five times and it was through the USSD code,” Bamidele said.
The witness also explained to the court how they wrote GT Bank to get Ataga’s statement of account.
He said that on 13 June 2021, there was an internet transfer of ₦10,000 to Chidinma, and another ₦105,000 was also transferred to Chidinma on the same 13 June, for the payment of the Short Let Service apartment paid to Nkechi Mogbo, the owner of the apartment.
“On that same 13 June, there was a ₦13,000 purchase transaction at Ango Villa, ₦14,200, transaction for purchase at Dwine Bar Global, and on the same 13 June, there was a transfer of ₦20,399.
“On 14 June 2021, there was ₦21,000 transfer from Ataga’s account to Chidinma’s account and another transfer of ₦15,000 paid to Chidinma, there was a ₦5000 transaction that was made on 14 June and paid to Adiba Online Choppy,” he said.
When the prosecution sought to admit the written statements of the defendants, Chidinma’s counsel, Onwuka Egwu, objected to the admissibility of the document.
He said that she didn’t make the statements voluntarily, that the statements were obtained by suppression, inducement intimidation and under duress and urged the court to test the veracity of the voluntariness of the statements.
Counsel to the second defendant, Babatunde Busari, did not object to the admissibility of the document and said that the third defendant’s counsel Miss M. A. Abia-Bassey also did not object.
However, the prosecutor prayed the court to conduct a trial-within-trial to test the voluntariness of the document.
Consequently, Justice Adesanya adjourned the further hearing in the suit to 8th November for trial-within-trial.
Ojukwu was arraigned alongside two others Adedapo Quadri and Chioma Egbuchu on 12 October 2021, on a nine-count charge over the alleged murder of Ataga preferred against them by Lagos State Government.
Ojukwu and Quadri are facing the first to eight counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, stabbing, forgery, making of bank statements and stealing.
The third defendant, Egbuchu, is facing the ninth count of receiving a stolen iPhone 7 belonging to the late Ataga.
Ojukwu and Quadri were alleged to have conspired and murdered Ataga on 15 June 2021, by stabbing him several times with a knife in the neck and chest.