Billionaire businessman and CEO of Super TV, Mr Usifo Ataga was declared missing on his 50th birthday and later found dead in an Airbnb rented service apartment in Lagos a few days later.
For days, the Nigeria police tried to solve the puzzle surrounding Ataga’s mysterious death until money started being withdrawn from his bank account via his credit card. That and a retrieved phone conversation log gave the police the red flag needed to swing in on the culprit.
Ataga’s Killer: 21-Year-Old University Student, Chidinma Ojukwu
A 21-year-old undergraduate of the University of Lagos who simply identified herself as Chidinma Ojukwu confessed to Killing Ataga.
She narrated how she stabbed the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, to death after they had sexual fun together in the Lekki area of Lagos State.
She spoke at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja on Thursday after she was paraded as a suspect by the state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu.Odumosu. The police said Chidinma was arrested at her parents’ residence in the Yaba area of the state on Wednesday night.
Chidinma, a 300-level student of Mass Communication, said she had been in a romantic relationship with Ataga for about four months before the ugly incident. She and Ataga were “having fun” when an argument broke out and she stabbed him twice.
“We were in the lodge smoking. He was trying to make advances on me. I was tired and he became violent on it. I let him have his way. Towards afternoon, he ordered roofies. We took it together and ate food. He became high. I was still not happy with the first one (sex) that we had, so, I was staying on my own, smoking and drinking. He, too, was on his own.”
“He came to me and I was like I am not happy with what he did. I was like, ‘You don’t help me, you don’t assist me with anything, you are just playing with me around’. He was like, ‘Take my ATM and withdraw what you want’.“He later became violent trying to get to me and I was resisting and defending myself. At some point, he hit my head on the wall and I also retaliated.”
“At some point, he was chasing me around the kitchen cabinet. I took a knife and stabbed his neck. I approached the door and he followed me. I stabbed him twice on the neck side. I threw the knife to the bed and he was going for it but I also went for it. He dragged the knife with me and it broke and he fell on the floor.”
The undergraduate also disclosed that after stabbing the late CEO, she withdrew N380,000 from his account using his ATM card.
The owner of the rented apartment where the tragic incident took place had been arrested. Odumosu also said Ataga’s account had been blocked to prevent further withdrawals from it by those taking advantage of his untimely death to deplete the account.
See video of crime scene here.
Ataga’s Wife: Brenda Ataga
Brenda Ataga, the wife of Michael Usifo Ataga, works as the National Project Coordinator of the LPG Gas Expansion Programme, in the office of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.
She had previously served as the Special Adviser on Downstream and Infrastructure between 2015 and 2019 to another Minister of State, Emmanuel Kachikwu.
She is a Mid/Downstream Commercial Strategist and a 2018 Nominee of the prestigious Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu Fellowship. She has over 15 years of experience in the Oil and Gas industry.
Brenda founded the NGO – True Foundation – which focuses on community and human capacity training for Women and Youths. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from the University of Lagos, BA Business Management from Lincoln University and an LLM from the University of Salford.
Before joining public service, Brenda held key leadership positions in private sector, where she attained recognition as the first female and first under 30 to serve in the capacity of Supply Manager at OANDO PLC (West Africa).
