An inspector, Ibrahim Isiaka, who appeared before a Lagos High Court in Tafawa Balewa Square on Thursday, narrated how the dead body of Usifo Ataga was found in an apartment by the police.

Mr Isiaka testified as a police investigator in an ongoing trial of Chidinma Ojukwu, the prime suspect in the murder of Mr Ataga.

Chidinma Ojukwu, a 300-level, Mass Communication student of the University of Lagos, is facing trial alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu and Adedapo Quadri, for the murder of Michael Ataga who was the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV.

The inspector attached to the Maroko police division in the Lekki area of Lagos state told the judge, Yetunde Adesanya, that Nkechi Mogbo, a service apartment where Mr Ataga died, came to report the incident to the police on June 16 2021.

He explained that Mrs Mogbo reported that her security guard, Abubakar Mohammed, forced the occupant’s door open and discovered that Mr Ataga was lying down in the pool of his blood.

Mr Isiaka said when officers showed up at the apartment, they found the body lying on the floor.

He told the court that things were left scattered in the apartment and the team lead (chief superintendent of police), picked some items for examination.

He said the team called the emergency centre at Yaba hospital and the corpse was evacuated from the building. He said the deceased body was identified at the morgue.

Mr Isiaka said after the case was transferred from the division to Panti, he handed over the case file to Panti.

On June 17, in the morning, “due to the seriousness of the case the (former) commissioner of police ordered that the case be transferred to the homicide section in Panti,” Mr Isiaka said.

“At the morgue, the corpse was brought out and he was on a stretcher. I discovered that there was blood at the back, he was lying on his back facing up,” he said.

The prosecutor, A.O. Oluwafemi applied to the court that the statement submitted by the witness to Panti be admitted in court as evidence, however, a lawyer, Babatunde Busari, to the second defendant (Adedapo Quadri) objected to the evidence.

During cross-examination, Onwuka Egwu, the lawyer representing Ms Ojukwu asked the inspector

“In your oral testimony before the court, you inform the court that one Nkechi came to your station on June 16, will you be surprised that the same Nkechi made her statement at 8:30 pm?”

Mr Isiaka responded that the case was transferred to him around 11:30 p.m. as an IPO.

The judge adjourned the matter till February 24, 25 and March 1, 2 and 3, for further hearing.