USIFO ATAGA: COURT ADMITS TWO HAND WRITTEN CONFESSIONAL STATEMENTS OF CHIDINMA IN EVIDENCE
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
A Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square TBS Annex, has admitted the two hand written statements made by Chidinma Ojukwu, the alleged murder suspect of Super TV Chief Executive Officer, Usifo Ataga, in evidence.
Justice Yetunde Adesanya, mentioned this in her ruling on Thursday, after careful study of the final written addresses in the trial-within-trial which was conducted to ascertain if the statement of the defendant at a police station was made voluntarily or under duress.
She said that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt the voluntariness of the defendant’s statements where the defendant had objected to the admissibility of her statements.
Recall that Assistant Superintendent of Police, Olusegun Bamidele while giving his testimony before the court, said that after the arrest of the first defendant, on June 23, 2021, her written statement was recorded on June 24.
He said: “She started writing by herself, but because her hand writing was illegible, I told her that she should ensure that her writing is legible or write in capital letter. It was at that point that she said I should write for her and she confessed to killing the deceased.She also mentioned how she had killed Michael Usifo Ataga and went away with the knife, phones and Mac book laptop.”
Meanwhile, the defendant, Chidinma Ojukwu, had told the court while giving her defense during the trial-within-trial that she was assaulted and forced to sign statements written by the police.
She mentioned in her testimony that the Police Prosecuting witnesses, ASP Bamidele and Olufunke Madeyinlo, told her to sign the statement against her while adding that officer Bamidele (PW1), told her to narrate his own written statement to the Commissioner of Police after tearing her own original statement.
Justice Adesanya stated during the reopened hearing that it is established law that the defendant must be informed of his or her rights before a statement can be admitted into evidence.
According to her, the defendant must be warned and made aware of their rights before having their statements recorded.
The judge also mentioned that, the defendant claimed that she had experienced physical abuse and threats.
She said, “The videos tendered in court did not display any intimidation towards the defendant while she was writing her statements.
“The voice of the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) was clear and audible. It did not show any form of intimidation”.
Following the decision, Mrs. Adenike Oluwafemi, the deputy director of public prosecutions, prayed the court for an adjournment.
According to her, the police officer who was still testifying before the court was not around.
The witness, according to Oluwafemi, was out of the country on business.
Justice Adesanya, however, adjourned the matter to 30th May for continuation of trial.
The defendant, an undergraduate student of the University of Lagos, is standing trial before a Lagos State High Court, for alleged murder of Ataga. She is also charged with stealing and forgery alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and one Adedapo Quadri.
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