It was a charged atmosphere on Thursday July 29 at the service of songs held for Michael Usifo Ataga, the boss of Super TV, at The Incubator, Victoria
It was a charged atmosphere on Thursday July 29 at the service of songs held for Michael Usifo Ataga, the boss of Super TV, at The Incubator, Victoria Island, as friends and family members eulogised him for being a wonderful friend, son, brother, uncle etc.
One of those who was besides herself with grief was his mother, Sylvia Ataga who said that her son did not deserve to die the way he did. Sylvia, in her tribute, said her son died an undeserved death.
“God knows he did not deserve what those people did to him. My heart bleeds to him anytime I remember. He was generous to a fault. It took death for me to know how loved he was. He has been robbed of the joy of seeing a project he spent seven years working on,” she said.
“He has been denied the joy of seeing his children grow up, go to the university, get married and make him a grandfather. These are the wishes of every parent. His love for his children cannot be quantified. No way! He would either hop on the next plane or send me funds to go and see the doctor. And monitor me for days. My pain is that I could not monitor him in his last days.”
In her own tribute, Brenda Ataga, Usifo’s wife, described the Super TV boss’s demise as heartbreaking.
Brenda Ataga who works in the office of the Minister of State for Petroleum said, “Finding out of your demise was the worst news imaginable. My mind had raced through all the possibilities of where you were and what could have happened but death, death wasn’t an option.
“The girls and I were looking forward to seeing you, to celebrate your milestone. I had imagined how surprised you would be when you walked in to see a place set up for you. I had imagined the infectious smile. Now I’m yet to comprehend the stark reality that your life was cut short in your prime, at a renaissance of all you had toiled for. I’m lost for words.”
Recall that The Street Journal had reported that Usifo was stabbed to death and left in the pool of his own blood in a short let apartment on 19, Adewale Oshin street, Lekki area of Lagos, on June 15, 2021,
Chidinma Ojukwu, a 21-year-old student of the University of Lagos who was with him, was thereafter arrested in connection with the case.
Chidinma had on June 24 confessed to stabbing Usifo twice on the neck side. She had alleged that the businessman forcefully had sex with her the first time but a dispute ensued after he attempted it again.
“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,” she had said.
But in a dramatic twist, Chidinma denied her initial confession that she killed the Super TV CEO.
“I didn’t involve anybody. I don’t know who must have come into the apartment. Definitely, somebody did that but I don’t know who that person is. I don’t know what happened when I left the room to buy food. Because of what I did after by not alerting the police and also withdrawing money from his account, I feel guilty for what happened but I did not kill him,” she had said a few weeks after claiming responsibility for his death.
Usifo’s burial will take place today Friday July 30, at Ebony Vaults, Ikoyi, Lagos after a funeral service at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Meanwhile, an autopsy report conducted on the 50-year-old man was yet to be released as pathologists are still awaiting the result, of samples that were taken abroad for analysis.
