Dr. Isi Ataga has said his brother, Super TV CEO, Usifo Ataga, was bound, gagged, and tortured before he was murdered.
The body of the deceased was found in a hotel room where he had spent the night with a 300level student of the University of Lagos, Chidinma Ojukwu, who confessed to having killed him.
Isi, in a statement titled, ‘Who will speak for Usifo Ataga?’ expressed the doubt that the murder was carried out by a single person owing to the manner it was done.
He said, “Usifo died a horrific death. He wasn’t stabbed two or even five times; he was stabbed multiple times. His hands were bound tightly and the marks were still all over his wrists, accompanied by evidence of torture and assault even as his corpse lay in the morgue.
“And no one in the entire building heard his screams because he was gagged. Let that sink in, he was bound, gagged and tortured!
“The now-viral video of the room with the deceased lying on the floor shows a room with blood-stained walls and floor, evidence of a ferocious struggle. One person could never have carried these out.”
However, fresh facts and photos have emerged from a Short Service Apartment where Chidinma Ojukwu, allegedly stabbed Usifo Ataga to death.
It had earlier reported that the 300-level student of Mass Communication said she had been in a romantic relationship with Ataga for about four months before the ugly incident occurred at No 19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki, Phase 1, Lagos State.
The car of the deceased has been recovered from the crime scene and taken to the police station.
The suspect was arrested at her residence at No. 57, Akinwunmi Street, Alagomeji, Yaba, last Wednesday and paraded on Thursday at the command headquarters in the Ikeja area of Lagos.
When paraded, the UNILAG student confessed to stabbing 50-year-old Ataga to death on June 15, 2021.
Ojukwu had also said that she and Ataga were “having fun” when an argument broke out and she stabbed him twice after which she withdrew N380,000 from his account using his ATM card.
The suspect, who fled the scene, was, however, arrested at her father’s residence in the Yaba area of the state.
Items recovered from the suspect include, “Complimentary cards, Access Bank Statement of Account, one Nigerian Passport with No.B50010434 belonging to the suspect, one fake Drivers license bearing Mary Johnson with the suspect’s photograph, one National Identification Card bearing the suspect’s name, one UBA ATM debit card bearing the suspect’s name and one University of Lagos ID card bearing the suspect’s name.”
Meanwhile, the family of the deceased has called for a thorough investigation into the murder and asked to be left alone to mourn their beloved son, husband, father and brother.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu said that “the case will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded”.
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