Ataga: I was forced to sign prepared police statement, says Chidinma

Chidinma Ojukwu, the suspected killer of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, told a Lagos State High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, on Thursday that she was slapped and forced to sign testimonies prepared by police officers in the state.Information Guide Nigeria

Chidinma, who appeared as the first defense witness in her trial-within-a-trial, told Justice Yetunde Adesanya that police officers, including Assistant Superintendent of Police Olusegun Bamidele and Olufunke Madeyinlo, forced her to sign statements against her will.

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She stated that Bamidele instructed her to forward the statement he prepared to the state police commissioner after tearing up the statement she had written.

Chidinma is on trial for allegedly murdering Ataga. Alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and one Adedapo Quadri, she is also accused of theft and forgery.

Thursday, while being brought in evidence in the trial-within-a-trial by her attorney, Onwunka Egwu, Chidinma addressed the court and stated that on June 23, 2021, she was in her room at home when her 10-year-old sister told her that several guys were looking for her.

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The witness said, “Immediately, my sister called my Dad (her foster father, Onoh Ojukwu), who came out and asked who the men were. They said they were policemen from (SCID), Panti, and that they came to arrest me and to search the house or that I should go in and bring (Ataga’s) phone.

“I said I don’t know where the phone and car is and one of the policemen slapped me. My dad said you cannot slap my daughter in my house and the policemen tried to enter the room from the passage.”

Chidinma stated that when the police were taking her away, she told her foster father to call the family attorney, Egwu, and that when they arrived at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Panti, she was questioned by Razak Oseni and other officers.

She said, “We went back to my house and then returned to the DCP’s office and he started questioning me. I told him I don’t know anything about the death of Mr Ataga, and that was when they made the video that was played in court.

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“The DCP said I should make my statement then the IPO, Bamidele, took me to the interrogating room with Mr Chris, and gave me a blank statement form and asked me to write what happened.

“I started writing, then he (Bamidele) took my left hand and handcuffed it to the chair. I wrote what I said at the DCP’s office. While writing the statement, Bamidele read through it and said it was not what happened.”

Chidinma said she told Bamidele that she was writing what happened, adding that before she started writing the statement, she informed him to help her confirm if her foster father had called the family lawyer.

She said, “He (Bamidele) said my (foster) dad cannot make a call as he was in custody. That was when I started writing the statement. When he said the statement I wrote was not what happened, and I told him it was what happened, I received two slaps from Mr Jemiyo.

“Jemiyo and Chris sat at the back and Bamidele was facing me. He said you are going to write the truth, tore the statement I wrote, and presented another blank statement form. I told him I was writing the truth and you tore it.

“He said if I did not comply, my family, my dad, 10-year-old sister and relative will be charged in the murder case. He (Bamidele) brought out his phone, played the video obtained from the scene of the apartment, and showed me pictures of Mr Ataga’s body.

“He said now you are going to write and then I started writing. He said why I am slow and I received another slap on my back. I told him that I was not feeling well and needed to rest. He (Bamidele) said there was no time, he then collected the statement form from me and he started writing. Chris then handcuffed my hands to the chair.”

Chidinma stated that Bamidele initially questioned her, but eventually stopped, adding that once he finished writing, he read the statement to her, and she stated that it did not accurately reflect the events.

She said, “He said this is what you are going to say or else my family will be charged. He read the statement to me again and told me that I should rehearse it. He said that is what I should tell the CP.

“Bamidele and Chris returned in the morning and said I should sign the statement but as I was reluctant in signing it, Chris said I should because nobody is coming for me and that they will provide me with a good government lawyer.

“After signing the statement, I was brought out of the interrogation room, given water to wash my face, and then we entered a vehicle and drove to Ikeja. When we arrived at Bamidele took me to the CP and I said what Bamidele wrote.”

Chidinma said, “After I was taken to the press, then we drove back to Panti where Bamidele said we are going to do a video recording, and he said I should say everything he had written in the statement and they recorded the video which was played here in court.

“I was returned to the cell; in the evening on the same June 24, Oseni brought me out of the cell, took me to an office, where Madeyinlo and another female officer Bola were. When Oseni left, I was given a blank statement form and I was told to write another statement.

“Jemiyo also walked in and I said I had already written a statement. I said I am tired and have not eaten. I was just sitting when Jemiyo came beside me and hit my head on a wooden table. This was when officer Bola had left.

“Madeyinlo said I should start writing. I picked the pen, wrote the date, my name, then she (Madeyinlo) started dictating to me and said that I should write what she said. I started writing and at the end of writing the statement, she asked me to sign.”JAMB Result

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