The family of the late Usifo Ata­ga, Super TV CEO, has written a petition to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; the Director General, Department of State Services (DSS); the Deputy Inspector Gen­eral of Police, Homicide Section, Force Criminal Intelligence & Investigation Department (FCI­ID), and the Nigeria Police Force demanding that the murder case of their son be reinvestigated properly and professionally to unravel those who perpetrated the dastardly act.

A copy of the petition dat­ed August 25, 2021, sighted on Wednesday byDaily Indepen­dent, was also copied to the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command; the Commissioner of Police, Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID); the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCI­ID); the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos State; the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Lagos State, and the State Director, Department of State Services (DSS), Lagos State Command.

Rights activist and consti­tutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), wrote and endorsed the petition on behalf of the Ataga family.

“We are solicitors to the fam­ily of the late Mr. Michael Usifo Ataga, who was brutally mur­dered on the 15th day of June, 2021, in the most horrific and spine-chilling circumstances ever imaginable”.

The petition was titled, ‘The Gruesome and Horrific Murder of Mr. Michael Usifo Ataga: A Clarion Call for Thorough Inves­tigation and Delivery of Justice’.

The petition read in part, “That your officers forthwith re-investigate the entire Usifo murder case more properly and more professionally, and hand over the findings of its in­vestigations to the Lagos State DPP to properly and formally re-arraign Chidinma Ojukwu; and the other co-accused per­sons who had already been charged before a Chief Mag­istrate Court and hurriedly granted bail.

“These are the persons of Babalola Disu; Ojukwu(Chidin­ma’salleged fatheror ‘sugar dad­dy’); Jessica Egbochi; Abayomi Olutayo; and Ifeoluwa Olowu; and any other person(s) whom the police investigation may still throw up as having been linked to Usifo’s beastly and cold-blood­ed murder”.

The Ataga family demanded that security operatives should hence forth halt what it described as “any further funny and paratyphoid of Chidinma, or allow her access to media interviews”.

This, according to the peti­tioner, has invariably led to total trivialisation and mockery of a serious crime of brutal murder committed against Usifo.

“Such parades also have the un-salutary effect of negatively impacting on our societal values and the morals of Nigerians, especially the youths, who may erroneously, but unwittingly, be ­hold Chidinma as a heroine”, the family wrote.

“Though Usifo has died and his battered body committed to mother earth since 30th July, 2021, hissoulliveson. Hisdogged spirit fights on for justice. His teary eyes demand societal fair­ness.

“His shackled and manacled body, stabbed serially in a most vicious and hideous manner, yearns for freedom and recom­pense.

“His pierced jugular cries to the high heavens that his murderer(s) be properly and professionally prosecuted and accorded their just dessert”, the family stated.

(Daily Independent)