The family of the late Super TV Chief Executive Officer, Michael Usifo Ataga, has on Sunday broken its silence on the incident.
The family asked Nigerians with useful information on the murder of their son to give such information to the police.
The family who disclosed this in a statement sent to DAILY GIST on Sunday said the facts revealed by the police so far did not add up, they also have questions of their own.
They also called for restraint from the press and social media commentators.
The statement read: “Here are the facts. A little over a week ago, unknown persons savagely killed our beloved son, Usifo Ataga. With no regard for him, or his family, who love him, they viciously ended his life.
“His children will grow up to read unkind, thoughtless words from thousands of people who have joined the lynching party in the press and the blogosphere. Our aging parents must now struggle to pick up the pieces amid a cacophony of misinformation propagated by strangers.
“A suspect has been arrested and paraded before the press. We, the Ataga Family, are grateful to the Nigerian Police for pursuing this investigation. However, like you, we have many unanswered questions. Some things don’t add up.
“If you have any information, don’t hide behind online posts. Instead, come forward and share it with the Police.
“Here’s what we do know. The more you add to the false information in the press and on social media, the harder it is for the Nigerian Police to do their work and fully solve this case. The harder it is for a grieving family to recover from the loss of their beloved son.”
DAILY GIST reports that The Lagos State Police Command on Thursday arrested 21-year-old Chidinma, a UNILAG female undergraduate for allegedly killing the Chief Executive Officer, Super TV, Usifo Ataga, in the Lekki area of the state.
Chidinma a 300-level student of Mass Communication, said she had been in a romantic relationship with Ataga for about four months before the ugly incident.
Chidinma said she and Ataga were “having fun” when an argument broke out and she stabbed him twice.
Addressing Journalists, She said, “We were in the lodge smoking. He was trying to make advances on me. I was tired and he became violent on it. I let him have his way. Towards afternoon, he ordered roofies. We took it together and ate food. He became high. I was still not happy with the first one (sex) that we had, so, I was staying on my own, smoking and drinking. He, too, was on his own.
“He came to me and I was like I am not happy with what he did. I was like, ‘You don’t help me, you don’t assist me with anything, you are just playing with me around’. He was like, ‘Take my ATM and withdraw what you want’.
“He later became violent trying to get to me and I was resisting and defending myself. At some point, he hit my head on the wall and I also retaliated.
“At some point, he was chasing me around the kitchen cabinet. I took a knife and stabbed his neck. I approached the door and he followed me. I stabbed him twice on the neck side. I threw the knife to the bed and he was going for it but I also went for it. He dragged the knife with me and it broke and he fell on the floor.”
The undergraduate also disclosed that after stabbing the late CEO, she withdrew N380,000 from his account using his ATM card.
While the owner of the rented apartment where the tragic incident took place had been arrested, Odumosu said Ataga’s accounts had been blocked to prevent further withdrawals by those taking advantage of his untimely death to deplete the accounts.
