Chidinma Ojukwu, the university undergraduate and prime suspect in the murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Michael Usifo Ataga, has begun answering questions under cross-examination in her ongoing trial.

While responding to questions from Babatunde Busari, counsel to her co-defendant, Adedapo Quadri, Ojukwu told the Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafa Balewa Square that she never discussed Ataga’s death with Quadri.

Ojukwu testified that her only dealings with Quadri were limited to the supply of Loud, a form 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.

“The only transactions we had were for the supply of Loud and Rohypnol. He also helped me produce my school ID card,” Ojukwu said.

Ojukwu and Quadri are charged with conspiring to murder Ataga on June 15, 2021, by stabbing him multiple times in the neck and chest at No. 19, Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

READ ALSO: Chidinma Tells Court How She Found Usifo Ataga Dead In Lekki Apartment

Both defendants are facing eight counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, and stabbing, brought against them by the Lagos State Government.

In count nine, Chidinma’s sister, Chioma Egbuchu, was charged with being in possession of a stolen property — an iPhone 7 belonging to the late Usifo Ataga.

The defendants were arraigned on October 12, 2021.

At the resumed hearing of the trial on Monday, Quadri’s lawyer, Busari, cross-examined Ojukwu, who insisted that Quadri was unaware of her activities with Ataga at the short-let apartment in Lekki where the incident occurred.

“Quadri didn’t know anything that happened between me and Mr Ataga at the apartment,” she said.

“He never visited me there throughout my stay. I only called him to supply Loud and Rohypnol after Ataga said he had just one stick of Loud left,” she added.

Ojukwu admitted taking a brown envelope from the apartment when she left, explaining that it contained several personal documents belonging to Ataga and one Mary Johnson.

“I took the brown envelope when I was leaving the apartment,” she said.

She confirmed that the items inside the brown envelope were “Mr Ataga’s driver’s licence, his ID card, office complimentary cards, a driver’s licence, his Access Bank statement, an international passport belonging to one Mary Johnson, and UBA statements of account.”

She said she informed the police during interrogation at her Yaba residence that she had taken the envelope by mistake.

“When the police came to my house at No. 57 Akinwunmi Street, Alagomeji, Yaba, I told DSP Olusegun Bamidele that I mistakenly took the envelope home,” Ojukwu told the court.

The defendant also clarified that she obtained her international passport by herself and that another person, not Quadri, helped her get her driver’s licence and other documents.

“My conversation with Quadri on the phone was only about Loud and Rohypnol,” she said.

Before this testimony, the court listened to submissions by Ojukwu’s counsel, Onwuka Egwu, who reminded the judge that at the last sitting, he had sought to tender certain letters which the prosecution had objected to.

He said: “I wrote a letter to the prosecution on October 29, 2021, requesting the production of items released on bond to the nominal complainant.”

However, prosecution counsel, Yusuf Sule, told the court that the prosecution did not come across any such document.

After hearing both parties, Justice Yetunde Adesanya overruled the prosecution’s objections and directed Egwu to tender the letters.

Egwu tendered four letters through Ojukwu, all of which were admitted in evidence.

In her ruling, Justice Adesanya held that the letter dated October 29, 2021, addressed to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), requesting for exhibits and duly acknowledged, was admissible.

“The letter is properly before the court and is therefore admissible in evidence,” the judge said.

The judge also admitted Ojukwu’s handwritten letter appointing Egwu as her counsel, ruling that “the document attached to the previous correspondence is admissible.”

She further admitted copies of letters addressed to the Ministry of Justice, the Attorney-General of Lagos State, and the Inspector-General of Police, as well as copies sent to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and Panti.

The judge held, “The maker of this document is relevant, and the relevance is therefore relevant as relevance can be. The objection is overruled, and I so hold.”

Following the ruling, Egwu also tendered an iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone X, and a MacBook through Ojukwu.

She identified the devices, saying, “The iPhone 7 Plus belongs to my sister, while the iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone X, and the silver 2019 MacBook Pro are mine. I sold the MacBook to a vendor.”

The court adjourned the trial to November 6, 2025 for continuation.