Ataga: How Police Forced Me To Write False Statement – Chidinma
A former 300-level Mass Communication student at the University of Lagos, Chidinma Ojukwu, on Tuesday, told a Lagos State High Court that every statement she made to the police during interrogation was false and made under duress.
OSUN DEFENDER reports that Chidinma is standing trial for the alleged murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Michael Usifo Ataga.
Chidinma, Adedapo Quadri, and her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, are facing charges of stealing and forgery.
They were arraigned on October 12, 2021, on a nine-count charge.
Chidinma in her defence before Justice Yetunde Adesanya at the Lagos High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, said fear prevented her from speaking the truth during her interactions with the police.
“Because of the fear that the Investigating Police Officer, Mr. Bamidele, and his team put in me, I couldn’t say anything contrary to the narration he asked me to tell the Commissioner of Police,” she testified.
The defendant, who opened her defence on April 17, 2025, narrated how she was arrested on June 23, 2021 and interrogated.
“The IPO, Mr. Bamidele, collected my phone and asked me to input my password, which I did. He went to my contact list and searched for my sister’s name. He asked me to confirm it, then wrote it down.”
She continued, “He asked me about my laptop and what I went to do at Computer Village. I told him I went to repair the laptop on the table and sold another one. He asked which one I sold, I said a MacBook. He asked where I sold it, I said a phone vendor, and then he wrote the address down.”
On the cannabis she and Ataga allegedly smoked, Chidinma said Bamidele, “asked where I got the cannabis from. I said I have someone who supplies me. He asked who, I said Quadri. He asked for his number, I said it was on my phone, and he wrote it down.”
“When he asked about Michael’s ATM card, I told him I didn’t have it. He said N5m had been withdrawn and another N20,000 withdrawn a few times, totalling N5,380,000. I said, ‘Sir, I don’t know anything about it.’”
According to her, Bamidele following the interrogation, ordered her to write her statement.
However, her proteste that she had already written a statement and her lawyer was absent, was met with a slap.
“I said, ‘Sir, I’ve written my statement and you tore it. Now you want me to write another one and my lawyer is not here.’ Then I got a slap on the back,” she recounted.
“I picked up the pen and told him I wasn’t feeling fine and needed to rest. He said there was no time for that.”
She said as she began writing, her hands started shaking.
“He collected the pen and said I was too slow. Then he started asking questions about my name, age, address, school, and state of origin. After that, he stopped asking and started writing the statement himself.”
She continued, “When he was done, he gave it to me to read. I said, ‘Sir, your handwriting is illegible, I can’t read it.’ He read it to me. I said, ‘Sir, these allegations are all false.’ He said, ‘That will be your story, better comply.”
She told the court her hands were handcuffed to the seat she sat on.
“He read the statement over and over to me and gave me a short narration.
He said, ‘Tomorrow, I’ll take you to the CP’s office and this is what you are to say.’ He then left me in the interrogation room, with one hand handcuffed to the chair and the other free so I could flip through the pages.”
The next morning, on June 24, 2021, Bamidele returned with another officer identified as Chris.
“They removed the handcuff, gave me water to wash my face, then asked me to narrate the statement. I missed some words and Bamidele said we were going to the CP’s office.”
“I asked if my lawyer had come. Mr Chris said I should stop being stubborn, that they’d get a government lawyer for me.”
She said when they arrived in Ikeja, the other officers exited the vehicle and she was left with Bamidele. “He asked if I still remembered the statement or if he should re
ad it to me again.
He said, ‘Listen to me carefully, do not say otherwise to the CP if you love your life.’”
At the CP’s office, she said she narrated the story Bamidele had instructed her to tell.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
