Chidinma has been accused of selling Usifo Ataga’s laptop at the Computer Village, few days after he found dead in the short-let apartment
Chidinma Ojukwu, the 300-level undergraduate student of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, has been accused of selling the MacBook of Usifo Ataga at the Computer Village in Ikeja Lagos, few days after his death.
The third prosecution witness in the murder trial, Ifeoluwa Olowu, narrated how he bought a MacBook Pro laptop that belonged to the deceased.
Olowu, appeared before Justice Yetunde Adesanya of the Lagos State High Court, to testify in the trial of Chidinma.
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Olowu says he deals in the sale and purchase of phones, laptops and accessories, told the court how he bought a MacBook Pro laptop from Chidinma, unknown to him of the crime that led to the sale of the device.
Olowu said on June 18, Chidinma visited his store at Computer Village, Ikeja, to sell a MacBook Pro laptop.
The trader said he didn’t question Chidinma as she was his customer who bought a phone from him on April 30, then came to sell a laptop to him on June 18.
“She wanted to sell for N600,000, but we agreed to N495,000 which I transferred from my UBA account to her Sterling Bank account, after the forms were filled and the documents in our possession.”
Olowu said days after the sale, the internet was overtaken with news of Chidinma allegedly killing Usifo and he was able to recognise her on the spot.
When asked by the state lawyer how he conducts sales and purchase of used items from a customer in order to prevent buying stolen property, Olowu said customers are required to submit documents which include a government-approved ID card and must fill a form providing their full names, contact details, serial number and value of the item.
“We do this in order to contact the customer whenever any issues arise. I have never experienced any issue on purchases like this,” he explained.
The witness said when the defendant brought the MacBook for sale, he could not access it initially, but Ms Ojukwu unlocked the device, which cleared the doubt of whether she was the owner or not.
“Then I asked for the receipt of purchase of the laptop, she stated that it was a gift from her boyfriend and that she now had two laptops, so she wanted to sell one in order to pay for some bills.
“Then I confirmed the value of the laptop from Apple’s website, I found my mark and market valuation which led to a value of 1000-1,200 dollars. As at that time, the dollar rate was about 400-450 naira per dollar, ” he said.
Olowu said when the police from the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, invited his manager, Olutayo Abayomi, for questioning, the documents of the transaction helped in clearing their names.
“When I got to the station, I discovered that the case was connected with the purchase of the laptop from Chidinma. We both wrote statements detailing our account in relation to the laptop, we explained to the police how we made a purchase of the laptop and supplied her voters card, and our form containing all relevant information pertaining to her and the laptop.”
Olowu, and two others were earlier arraigned at the Yaba Magistrate Court, over the murder of Usifo and for being in possession of the stolen property.
Olowu was, however, exonerated by the Directorate of Public Prosecution, saying he had no case to answer in the murder.
Chidinma and the co-defendant, Adedapo Quadri, are facing trial over the murder of Usifo in a short-let apartment at Adewale Oshin Street, Lekki Phase 1.
Chidinma was accused of stealing the deceased’s two iPhones, his MacBook and two ATM cards from which N380,000 was allegedly withdrawn.
Two witnesses had previously testified on the activities of Chidinma at the apartment where Usifo was murdered.
Following the cross-examination of the third witness, the judge, Adesanya, adjourned the matter till November 29, for further hearing.
