The Nigerian Correctional Service on Monday provided special transportation from court for Chidinma Ojukwu, prime suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Super TV, Usifo Ataga.
A prison official put Miss Ojukwu, without handcuffs, in the front seat of a blue Toyota Camry and whisked her away from the Yaba Magistrates’ Court minutes after her remand by Chief Magistrate Adeola Adedayo.
The car, with Lagos plate number EPE 671 BD, had tinted black glasses.Miss Ojukwu looked straight ahead as the car, with front windows wound down, sped out of the courthouse parking lot.
They left behind a green prison bus, which was used to convey other prisoners.
But Prisons PRO Rotimi Oladokun told The Nation that there was a good reason for the treatment Miss Ojukwu got.
He explained that the Correctional Service often makes special transportation arrangements for defendants in high profile cases, as a security measure.
“It’s not the usual practice. It was a security diversion. It is a high profile case, so it was part of our security diversion. It was just to create a diversion.”
Chief Magistrate Adedayo on Monday remanded Ojukwu and her co-defendant Adedapo Quadri for 30 days following an application by the police counsel Cyril Ejiofor.
The defendants were accused to have conspired to kill Ataga and stole his laptop, phones and cash valued at N3.8 million.
They allegedly committed the offences on June 16, at No. 19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.
The court adjourned till September 6, for review of remand and Directorate of Public Prosecution’s Advice (DPP)’s advice.
In a separate proceeding, the police also arraigned Chidinma’s father Mr Onoh Ojukwu, and four others on charges including obstruction of justice and receiving of stolen property.
Miss Ojukwu, a 21-year-old Mass Communication student of the University of Lagos, was arrested by the police on June 23, 2021.
She was said to have been in a romantic relationship with 50-year-old Ataga for about four months before the incident.
Following her parade by the police on June 24, the undergraduate said she and Ataga were “having fun” when an argument broke out and she stabbed him twice.
On June 29, she pleaded for forgiveness saying she was not ready to die.
She attributed her action to influence of hard drugs and smoking.
But things took a dramatic turn on July 13, 2021 when Chidinma recanted.
In an interview she granted the police media team which was aired by Crime Fighter TV, a police sponsored programme, Ojukwu claimed she walked into the room from an errand only to find Ataga stabbed, blood everywhere and the apartment in shambles.
In the eight minutes and eight seconds video, she claimed her earlier admission of stabbing Ataga to death was made under pressure and fear that people would not believe her.
She said someone probably entered the apartment when she left to get the things they needed, killed Ataga, scattered the place and left before her arrival.
