Murder in Lekki: Guilty until Proven Innocent.
It is a gruesome, brutal murder. Two stab wounds to the neck makes that a given. Usifo Ataga the victim, a forty-nine-year-old CEO of Super TV, was found murdered in a short-let apartment in Lagos, and police investigation has thrown up the self-confessed killer in Chidinma Ojukwu, a twenty-one-year-old, three hundred levels part-time student of the University of Lagos. That a young man, or precisely a man in his forties, should meet his end in such an ignoble manner, is brutish, infernal, and animalistic. That his corpse wasn’t discovered for some days throws in a lot of questions and fantasies to his death; most of which will remain unanswered till the police finish their investigation; If they do!
The location of the kill is the high-brow, the-rich-only, and flood-prone island known as Lekki. An extension of Victoria Island, It is arguably the most expensive piece of real estate in Nigeria. Reeking of old money from the antebellum days and hotels with tops scraping the skies, it is filled with the embassies of countries like the United States, Netherlands, Italy, and others. The Eko Atlantic City, an ambitious initiative of the Lagos state government to extend the land mass of the Island, has led to the loss of the famous Bar-Beach to the sand-filled creation of the new Lagos. This island and its outlying extension of Lekki has the inglorious fortune to be at the eye of the storm. The allure of class and luxury has attracted like ants to sugar the multitude of fun-seekers, real estate merchants, wealthy politicians, expatriates, diplomats, and of course cyber criminals to this stretch of the island, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean on the south and the Lagos Lagoon on the north. They even named the local government there ‘Eti-osa’ beside the lagoon. High-Brow area and a High-profile crime. As often as seen in the country, poor to none existent town planning with haphazard building layouts has led to the constant flooding challenge faced by the inhabitant of Lekki. Any rainfall that exceeds a quarter of an hour results in massive flooding of the arterial motorways with some neighborhoods to all intent practically submerged! Despite this, Lekki is still the main Lagos attraction for anyone who desires to mingle with the rich and the wanna-be-rich.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Ataga whose family lives in Abuja, but due to his job requirements, travels a lot and to where most times, if not Lagos and Lekki precisely. Perhaps the pressures and demand of work welded with the constant absence from home drew him into the embrace of other women. Equally, we could infer that like some Nigerian men, he had the proclivity already in-built into his DNA, and was just waiting to be unleashed. However, the wind blows, it is at the hand of the other woman that he met his end.
What transpired on the day of the murder is shrouded in mystery. Whether there was an altercation between the lovers or it was a case of passion gone wrong, we won’t know save for the confession of the alleged killer Chidinma who looks shockingly composed for a young adult who is been accused of a brutal murder or better still called a cold-blooded killer. However, social pundits and commentators have postulated various theories as to the occurrence that precipitated the homicide. Amongst the many theories making the rounds is the belief that the killer had accomplices as she couldn’t have — not to insult our sensibilities, overpower a full-grown man to the extent of delivering two stab wounds while the victim looked on. Another of this theory is that she might have drugged her victim then proceed to butcher him with the kitchen knife, which amounts to premeditated murder. There are quite a few left, some devoid of logic but in the emotional frenzy of the moment, doesn’t matter as everyone has bought into the ‘collective chagrin’ of the moment. An example of this wild conspiracy theory is that the wife of the victim hired Chidinma to murder her husband, take the heat for it, and would then be amply compensated if and when she is done serving her time for the murder! Preposterous right?
Nevertheless, examining this social debacle from the forensic angle, who can help but wonder how Chidinma could achieve the infamous feat of overpowering Amaga given the gender and age difference between both of them. Though the confession of the accused claims that both were submerged in the intoxicating influence of drugs(which kind we do not know), it is especially hard to buy that the effect of the drug embolden and empowered a twenty-one-year lady to overpower and subsequently kill a forty-nine-year-old man. If indeed the accused had help, who are they and how do they all factor into this grand scheme of premeditated homicide. If the accused and her accomplices could very well plan the murder of Ataga, would they not know that using his ATM card to withdraw money will leave a trail that even the dumbest of law enforcement detectives will follow and consequently lead to the discovery of the user? If the accused acted on her own, could we assume she is unaware of technologies used to identify users of ATMs, and could she claim to be mentally turgid as to access the account of the deceased conspicuously to draw attention to herself? Could it be she wanted to draw attention to herself as a sort of subterfuge, to cover the tracks of the actual killers after all the police and the larger society have taken the story hook, line, and only the sinker is left?
However has the alleged murderer in any way shown remorse by her action and inactions? Body language is a science and that of the accused stands for scrutiny. She doesn’t look forlorn nor alarmed. Shock is not the expression to describe her demeanor. She seems resigned though but not in a manner as to connote remorse. All these are the antithesis of a remorseful killer.
In the investigative process, the matter of phone logs comes up, if Chidimma and her accomplice if any are by any yardstick smart, they should realize that phone logs in the hours preceding the crime will be examined with a fine-tooth comb, except of course the idea was to make the police job easy for them by throwing down pieces of bed crumbs that will lead them to the expected conclusion.
On the other hand, the media house's behavior has been expectedly true to their calling. Falling over each other to report both objectively and subjectively, sacrosanct pieces may have been overlooked with the focus more on reinforcing the culpability of the accused. News of her self confession has already made the headline. The reporting is skewed in favor of the deceased with the narratives just about sentencing the alleged murderer to whatever end the law deems fit. They have embarked on media-trial with gusto, especially since the self-confession of the accused. Thorough Investigative journalism does not presume guilt or innocence and this case is not an exception. That the police acted flippantly by making the accused available for media interrogation is an indictment of our policing methodology. The case is not tied and dried yet. Prejudice is already at work with the media houses been granted an exclusive access to the crime scene. This development makes one cringe at the professionalism of our law enforcement officials. An ongoing investigation into a murder case which is a capital crime is very much in the pipeline and contamination of the scene is being encouraged and aided! Like everything in this country, the possibility of money changing hands or some powerful individual pulling the strings is evident. To all intent, it does not look like the police are serious about further investigating this crime, and the saber-rattling been done by their PRO is just playing to the gallery. This conclusion is aptly drawn from the urgency in which they are presenting the hastily garnered facts and the unethical way they have been going about giving up the accused to public media pre-trial.
In all these, some lessons are to be learnt; crime is not the way to go despite the troubles that ail us as a nation and as individuals. Parents need to do better jobs raising their wards. Inclusive parenting should be the order of the day. Leaving childcare-minders, our old folks, to do a twenty-first-century job with a twentieth-century mindset is a tragedy. Having been separated from her parents at the age of two, the Chidinma Story of a rough upbringing might be responsible for her predisposition to commit a crime of such severity. The punch a leading Nigerian daily reported that “she started smoking after she got into the University”. Her Uncle has been responsible for her ever since. Growing up in Mushin, a part of Lagos noted for gang war, organised crime and breeding grounds for thugs and hoodlums could also have been a factor. Peer pressure and influence might also have a role to play in the person the accused has become but all these are pure conjectures. All these doesn't insulate her from the law and if found guilty should be made to face the music
However, in the pursuit of justice, the law must be allowed to run its full course but due process must be followed and all these press shenanigans and public cum media trial needs to stop. The police must be more diligent in the discharging of their duties within the ambit of the law while assuring that the accused fundamental human rights are protected. Before she is branded a killer, she must have her day in a competent court and the Nigerian Police Force must ensure they leave no stone unturned to fish out other accomplices or accomplices if actually, they exist. The public must shy away from jumping to conclusions especially as the investigation is still going on, volunteer information that can help get to the root of the matter and dis-infect their minds of all notion of “guilty until proven innocent”.
