Chidinma Ojukwu, the suspected killer of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, was brought before a Chief Magistrate court sitting in the Yaba area of Lagos on Monday.
The prison wardens attached to the court barred journalists from accessing the area through which she arrived and left the courtroom.
Dressed in a black hooded jumpsuit, Chidinma was led into the courtroom around 9 am.
Counsel to the police, Cyril Ajiofor told Magistrate Adeola Adedayo that the police had received legal advice from the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) on the case.
A copy of the DPP’s advice disclosed that after careful consideration of facts available in the case file, a prima facie case of conspiracy, forgery and murder exists against the 300 level Mass Communication Student of the University of Lagos, Chidinma and another person, Adedapo Quadri, while a prima facie case of stealing exists against Chidinma alone.
The DPP also established the offence of having possession of a stolen item against one Egbuchu Chioma from whom the deceased’s iPhone 7 was said to have been recovered.
It was also learnt that the DPP Director, Mrs Olayinka Adeyemi, went ahead to file a charge against the three suspects at the Lagos High Court and was yet to get a date for the hearing of the case.
The DPP cleared 11 other suspects and asked that they be released on the grounds that no offence had been disclosed against them in respect to the case.
The 11 include Babalola Disu, Olowu Ifeoluwa, Olutayo Abayomi, Nkechi Mogbo, and Ojukwu Onoh.
Others are Tony Okonye, Damilola Adekoya, Bola Adekoya, Segun Akinsanya, Oluwatoni Dada and Adams Kenneth.
Based on this information, Magistrate Adedayo, discharged Chidinma’s father, Ojukwu Onoh, and four others who had initially been arraigned by the police for obstruction of justice and failing to report a crime to the law enforcement agencies.
The Magistrate Court has ordered the further remand of Chidinma and the two others to be tried and adjourned till Sept 29 to await further information from the DPP as to the status of the case at the high court.
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