A new witness has shared his testimony and given evidence to the court on Michael Ataga’s murder trial.
Yesterday, a Lagos high court at Tafawa Balewa Square had its hearing on the Chidinma Ojukwu trial on the murder of Super TV CEO.
The witness known as Rotimi Albert gave evidence before Justice Yetunde Adesanya as he introduced himself as a family friend and schoolmate of the late Ataga.
Michael Ataga Murder Trial
Albert revealed that on the day of Ataga’s murder which was also his birthday, he tried severally to get through to the deceased to wish him a happy birthday, but all to no avail.
He stated that Ataga’s phone rang severally, but there was no response, so he decided to send him a message on WhatsApp, which was delivered but was not read.
Albert reiterated that the deceased wife reported to the police after there were fears about his whereabouts.
He added that Ataga’s phone was tracked and was last seen on June 16 at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) guest house.
Albert said he decided to visit the UNILAG guest house with a mutual friend the next day to confirm Michael Ataga’s vehicle as the day was already running late.
He noted that they didn’t find the vehicle and tracked the mobile phone again, which showed it was last seen at Alagomeji Area of Yaba.
He said tracking the phone became very difficult as the person who had it was on the move.
“Then, we got a call that Usifo was deceased and in the mortuary. We went to Panti police station where we found out that the police had already visited the crime scene,” he stated.
He added that the police told them to go to the mortuary to identify the body after visiting the crime scene, “so we confirmed it was Usifo Michael Ataga.”
The case was adjourned until February 14, 2022.