Former University of Lagos student, Chidinma Ojukwu, on Monday told the Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square that she never discussed the death of Super TV Chief Executive Officer, Michael Usifo Ataga, with her co-defendant, Adedapo Quadri.
Ojukwu, a 300-level Mass Communication student at the time of the incident, said her only interactions with Quadri were related to the purchase of Loud (a type of cannabis) and Rohypnol, as well as his assistance in producing her school identity card.
“I never had any discussion with Adedapo Quadri about the death of Mr. Ataga,” she said during cross-examination by Quadri’s lawyer, Babatunde Busari. “The only transactions we had were for the supply of Loud and Rohypnol. He also helped me produce my school ID card.”
Ojukwu and Quadri are accused of conspiring to murder Ataga on June 15, 2021, by allegedly stabbing him multiple times in the neck and chest at a short-let apartment located at No. 19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.
They are standing trial alongside a third defendant, Chioma Egbuchu, who is Ojukwu’s sister. The Lagos State Government filed a nine-count charge against the trio — with Ojukwu and Quadri facing eight counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, and stabbing, while Egbuchu faces one count of stealing Ataga’s iPhone 7. The defendants were first arraigned on October 12, 2021.
At Monday’s hearing, Ojukwu maintained that Quadri had no knowledge of her activities with Ataga at the apartment.
“Quadri didn’t know anything that happened between me and Mr. Ataga at the apartment,” she told the court. “He never visited me there throughout my stay. I only called him to supply Loud and Rohypnol after Mr. Ataga said he had just one stick of Loud left.”
Ojukwu also admitted taking a brown envelope from the scene when she left, explaining that it contained personal documents belonging to Ataga and another individual named Mary Johnson.
“I took the brown envelope when I was leaving the apartment,” she said. “Inside were Mr. Ataga’s ID card, office complimentary cards, a driving licence, his Access Bank statement, a passport belonging to Mary Johnson, and UBA statements of account.”
She added that she informed the police about the envelope during her arrest at her residence in Yaba. “When the police came to my house at No. 57 Akinwunmi Street, Alagomeji, I told DSP Olusegun Bamidele that I mistakenly took the envelope home,” she said.
Ojukwu further clarified that she personally obtained her passport and that another person—not Quadri—helped her with her driver’s licence and related documents.
During the proceedings, her counsel, Ngozi Egwu, sought to tender several letters purportedly written by Ojukwu to the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, the Attorney-General, and the Inspector-General of Police. Despite objections from the prosecution, Justice Yetunde Adesanya admitted the documents as evidence, ruling that they were properly filed and relevant to the case.
Egwu also tendered four electronic devices — an iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone X, and a silver 2019 MacBook Pro — through Ojukwu. The defendant identified them, stating that the iPhone 7 Plus belonged to her sister while the other devices were hers, adding that she later sold the MacBook to a vendor.
Justice Adesanya subsequently adjourned the case to November 6, 2025, for continuation of trial.