The family of the late Super TV chief executive Usifo Ataga has reportedly hired constitutional lawyer Mike Ozekhome to prosecute the case.
Mr Ataga was found dead on June 15, 2021, in Lekki area of Lagos. A prime suspect Chidinma Ojukwu was last week arraigned at the Chief Magistrate Court in Yaba area of the state.
However, the deceased’s family in its instruction letter to Mr Ozekhome decried the alleged low level of professionalism exhibited so far by the police in professionally prosecuting the perpetrators of the crime, Vanguard reports.
It also personally accused Lagos State police commissioner Hakeem Odumosu of complicity in the matter following an interview where Ms Ojukwu recanted her earlier admission of guilt when she was paraded before the press at the police headquarters in Ikeja.
The family said they were shocked that the 21-year-old Ojukwu, a student of the University of Lagos, was arraigned at a Chief Magistrate Court, Yaba, without the family being informed about the arraignment.
The family also claimed that Babalola Disu, who was arraigned for allegedly preventing the police from performing their duties and failing to report the crime to the police, is “highly suspected to have carried out the murder”.
The family premised its suspicion on information they received to the effect that Mr Disu’s short rental apartment was directly opposite the apartment where Ataga was killed.
The family narrated how Disu had allegedly asked that the carpenter of Air BnB should be called upon to fix his door, only for the carpenter to be told later that it was actually Ataga’s door that was broken.
It also decried the special treatment given to Ojukwu after the suspect was given an Uber ride from court back to prison custody.
The family also alleged that the man who claimed to be Ojukwu’s father and who was also charged to court for obstructing police investigation was actually not her biological father but her “sugar daddy”.
It also faulted the bail term of N1m and two sureties in like sum granted to the other suspects excluding Ojukwu who was ordered remanded.
