Super TV CEO’s Murder: Court Stops Banker’s Cross-Examination

Justice Yetunde Adesanya of the Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square, on Tuesday, dismissed the attempt by Chidinma Ojukwu’s counsel to cross-examine an Access Bank worker over the late Usifo Ataga’s bank statements tendered as exhibits.

Chidinma, a 300-level Mass Communication student of the University of Lagos, was accused of killing Ataga, the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV.

The justice presiding over the case of the undergraduate and two others, Adedapo Quadri and Chioma Egbuchu, however, admitted the bank statements as exhibits.

The prosecution counsel, A. O. Oluwafemi, told the court that the prosecution had a representative from Access Bank who was in court on the basis of a subpoena to tender the account document of the deceased.

Oluwafemi then called the bank’s representative, Toafeek Lawal, to the witness box to present and tender the statement and certificate of identification.

The first defendant’s counsel, Onwuka Egwu, raised an objection to cross-examine the bank official on the document he tendered.

According to Egwu, Lawal is the account officer of the deceased which can be seen from the subpoena and certification attached to the account.

He, therefore, said the bank officer was not in the position to give evidence in respect of the account.

Justice Adesanya, in a short ruling, said Section 218 of the Evidence Act (EA) 2011 provides that a person, whether a party or not in a case, may be summoned to produce a document without being summoned to give evidence.

Adesanya added that Section 219 of the EA provided that a person summoned to produce a document does not become a witness by the mere fact that he produced it and cannot be cross-examined unless and until he was called as a witness.

“This officer of the bank has not been sworn on oath, therefore, cannot be cross-examined,” she said.

The judge dismissed the first defendant’s application.

A Guaranty Trust Bank official, Ademola Ayodeji, also tendered the bank statements of the late Ataga before the court.

Consequently, Justice Adesanya admitted all the documents as exhibits.

The prosecution had asked the court on April 25 for a short adjournment to enable the prosecution to put its house in order concerning the bank statements. The three defendants were arraigned on October 12, 2021, bordering on the nine counts preferred against them by the Lagos State Government.

Ojukwu and Quadri are facing the first to eight counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, stabbing, forgery, making of bank statements and stealing.

The third defendant, Egbuchu, is facing the ninth count of stealing of iPhone 7 belonging to the late Ataga.

Justice Adesanya adjourned the matter till April 28, 2022.