Olusegun Bamidele, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, testified before the Lagos High Court in Tafawa Balewa Square that Chidinma Ojukwu, the alleged suspect in the murder of Usifo Ataga, the chief executive officer of Super TV, had a romantic relationship with her foster father, Onoh Ojukwu.
Bamidele, who works for the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Yaba’s homicide division, revealed this under cross-examination by Chidinma’s counsel, Onwuka Egwu, during the trial-within-a-trial.
Chidinma, 300 level student of the University of Lagos, studying mass communication, is facing trial for allegedly killing Ataga.
Along with Adedapo Quadri and her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, she is also accused of stealing and forgeries.
On October 29, 2022, DSP Bamidele described to the court the conclusions of his investigation team and how Chidinma confessed to killing Ataga during a fight in his hotel room.
The court deferred the case at the request of Chidinma’s legal team in order to conduct a trial-within-a-trial to determine whether Chidinma’s statement was produced under duress.
Bamidele claimed during cross-examination that his team accidentally discovered information suggesting Chidinma was having a romantic relationship with his foster father, Ojukwu.
He said: “In the course of our detention of Mr. Ojukwu, we stumbled on intelligence that there was an amorous (sexual) relationship between the first defendant (Chidinma) and her foster father.
That provided us a signal that Mr. Ojukwu has been insincere and knew about the offense for which Chidinma is currently on trial.