Chidinma has denied stealing Late Ataga’s MacBook in court testimony.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that Chidinma Ojukwu, the prime suspect in the 2021 murder of Super TV Chief Executive Officer, Usifo Ataga, on Monday denied stealing his phones and laptop as she continued her testimony at the Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS).
Ojukwu, a former 300-level Mass Communication student at the University of Lagos, is standing trial for Ataga’s murder, and is also facing charges of theft and forgery alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and another co-defendant, Adedapo Quadri.
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At Monday’s hearing, Ojukwu, who was escorted into the courtroom by prison wardens, told the court that she did not take any of Ataga’s belongings from the short-let apartment where he was found dead.
“I did not take Usifo’s laptop and I didn’t see any laptop when I returned to the room on June 15, 2021,” she stated under cross-examination.
She explained that during their stay together, Ataga had an iPhone 8, an iPhone 12, and a 13-inch MacBook Pro 2020 model.
She, on the other hand, had a 16-inch MacBook Pro (Core i7, 2019), an HP laptop, and an iPhone 11 Pro. She also told the court that she owned an iPhone Xs and had an iPhone 7 at home at the time.
The court showed her a MacBook laptop that was recovered by police, which she identified as hers.
Asked if she had a receipt to prove ownership, she replied: “Yes. But after police searched our house and scattered things, my family couldn’t find the receipt.”
Her defense counsel, Onwuka Egwu, asked her about reports that she had attempted to sell a MacBook computer.
She confirmed that she visited a shop on June 18, 2021, to sell the device, claiming it was given to her by one Mr. Fredrick, whom she has since lost contact with.
“The receipt was among the items that went missing when the police searched our house,” she told the court.
Chidinma also responded to claims made by prosecution witness PW5, Mr. Saliu Obiora, who alleged that she changed the original phone pouch of one of Ataga’s phones with a counterfeit worth N1,000. She refuted the claim, and said that she already had the pouch before meeting Ataga.
“I had that pouch back when I was using an iPhone 11 Pro. I posted the phone and the pouch on my Instagram handle,” she said, identifying her handle as @Iamdorabie.
Her lawyer presented screenshots from her Instagram page to support her claim, which the court admitted as evidence.
She also presented a receipt for her iPhone Xs, which was admitted by the court as Exhibit P25.
Chidinma stated that the bag seized by the police belonged to her and contained her iPhone Xs, ATM cards, sanitary pads, voter’s card, syringe, and other personal documents.
The defense also addressed testimony from prosecution witness PW9, Bamidele Oluwasegun, who said Chidinma made 15 calls between June 13 and 18, 2021, nine of which were to Quadri. She confirmed the calls, saying they were about “unfinished business.”
“Apart from the roofies and loud (drugs) I ordered, we had unfinished business to handle,” she said, and described previous dealings with Quadri.
She recounted an incident in May 2021 when a friend reached out to her for help about obtaining a passport and driver’s license.
During that time, she was also speaking with Quadri about clothes she had ordered. Because of a network issue, she merged the friend and Quadri into a three-way call.
“We discussed and agreed on how to process the documents. Quadri had the right connections,” she testified.
According to her, Quadri continued to call her from May to June 2021 regarding the delivery of the documents. These calls, she said, matched the timeline presented by the prosecution.
Ojukwu also denied allegations that she forged bank statements or official documents. “What the police found were two real bank statements,” she said.
She further told the court that she did not forge her driver’s license or passport, which she claimed to have processed by herself at different times.
When asked about a driver’s license in the name of “Mary Johnson,” which was part of the prosecution’s evidence, she firmly denied ownership.
Following her testimony, Justice Sonaike adjourned the trial to October 6, 7, 8, 14, 16, 20, and 27, 2025, for continuation.
