A witness in Chidinma Ojukwu's trial, DSP Olusegun Bamidele, has testified in court.The ninth prosecution witness in Usifo Ataga's murder trial, Bamidele, described how the prime suspect Chidinma Ojukwu transferred N5 million from the Super TV Chief Executive Officer's bank account on the day she allegedly stabbed him to death.
On Thursday, Bamidele testified in front of the High Court and described the process by which the University of Lagos 300-level Mass Communication undergraduate transferred N5 million from Ataga's account to another account on June 15, 2021.
During his testimony before the court on November 16, 2021, the security guard of the short-term service apartment where Ataga was killed, Abubakar Mohammed, stated that Chidinma left the apartment on a Tuesday night, June 15, 2021, and never returned there.Additionally, the security guard informed the court that Ataga's body was discovered on June 16, 2021, on Wednesday.
Along with her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and a person named Adedapo Quadri, Chidinma, who is currently on trial before Justice Yetunde Adesanya for the alleged murder of Ataga, is also accused of stealing and forgery.The Lagos State Government brought Chidinma, Quadri, and Egbuchu to court on October 12, 2021, on nine counts of murder.
Egbuchu is charged with the ninth count of receiving a stolen iPhone 7 belonging to the late Super TV CEO. According to the charges against them, Chidinma and Quadri were alleged to have conspired and murdered Ataga on June 15, 2021, by stabbing him several times with a knife in the neck and chest. Chidinma and Quadri are also charged with the first to eight counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, stabbing, forgery, making of bank statements, and stealing. Mrs. Adenike Oluwafemi, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DDPP), informed the court at the resumed hearing of the case on Thursday that the case would be going to trial again.
Bamidele, who had not yet finished giving evidence, was brought into the witness box as the trial progressed, where the DPP Oluwafemi requested exhibit P11, Ataga's Access Bank Statement.She asked the witness to explain to the court why he had the deceased person's bank statements.
In response, Bamidele informed the court that the police wrote Access Bank asking for the deceased's bank statement during the course of the investigation in an effort to determine what might have motivated the first defendant (Chidinma) to kill the Super TV CEO. A copy of the bank statement was provided to the police.
Bamidele went on to say that the first defendant used the deceased's phone to transfer N5 million from his account to another bank on June 15, 2021, after taking a close look at the copies of the bank statements and considering that the deceased's phones were already in the first defendant's possession.
The witness went on to say, "On June 16, 2021, four transactions totaling N20,000 were made from the deceased's account, and on June 17, another withdrawal totaling N20,000 was made five times, with the remarks being "transfer between customers."
"On a similar June 16, N50,000 was moved to Nkechi Mogbo, one more N11,200 of the asset was likewise moved to Caprical Capital, on a similar June 16, one more N50,000 was moved from Ataga's record to Mogbo and one more N93,000 moved from Ataga's GTBank to his Entrance Ledger.On June 18, 2021, a transfer of N110,000.75 was deducted from the account of the deceased.
"A transfer of N20,000 was made four times on June 19, 2021, and on the same day, another transfer of N20,000 was made five times using the USSD code."
Bamidele went on to say that they wrote to GTBank to get Ataga's account statement. On June 13, 2021, they sent N10,000 to Chidinma via the internet, and on the same day, another N105,000 was sent to Chidinma to pay for the short-term service apartment that was given to Nkechi Mogbo, the owner of the apartment.
"On the same day, June 13, there was a purchase transaction for N13,000 at Ango Villa, a purchase transaction for N14,200 at Dwine Bar global, and a transfer for N20,399.
"On June 14, 2021, there was a transfer of N21,000 from Ataga's account to Chidinma's account, and another transfer of N15,000 was made to Chidinma. On June 14, Adiba Online choppy received N5,000.""[/b
Onwuka Egwu, Chidinma's attorney, reportedly objected to the admissibility of the written statements of the defendants when the prosecution sought to admit them, arguing that Chidinma, the first defendant, did not make the statements voluntarily. The attorney pleaded with the court to verify the voluntariness of the statements, claiming that they were obtained through oppression, inducement, intimidation, and coercion.In the meantime, both the second defendant's attorney, Babatunde Busari, and the third defendant's attorney, Miss M. A. Abia-Bassey, did not object. However, the prosecutor requested that a trial for Chidinma be held concurrently with the trial. Justice Adesanya adjourned the case for trial on November 8 after hearing from both sides.
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