21-year-old Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu, the alleged killer of the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, has opened up on her life trajectory that led her into the heinous crime.
The 300-level student of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, during an interview with The SUN, revealed, not only how she dropped out of school because of poverty but also the fact that she comes from a broken home.
Asked about her mum, she said: “My dad raised me. I don’t have contact with my mom. We don’t talk. I have an older sister and a younger sister.”
Chidinma revealed that the last time she visited campus was before the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. She explained that it was because there was no money for her to go back to school to continue her education pursuit.
She was also asked what the so-called “Roofies” was. She had taken the substance, along with Ataga, and that spiked up the man’s libido and made him to start pursuing her all over the place, including around the kitchen cabinet and demanding for another round of sex, even when she was too tired to engage in such act. She revealed that it is a street lingo for Rophynol. She confessed that she started taking drugs at a party she attended one year ago. “The first time I took it, I wasn’t myself. But I continued taking it because my body later got used to it. It makes me feel high”, she added.
Asked what the drug Rohypnol is used for, she said that it makes one feels high so much “you can do things you have never done before.”
‘Roofies’ at a glance
During her confession, Chidinma alleged that the deceased gave her Roofies about an hour before the unfortunate incident. The Sun reported that experts confirm that roofies is a street name for Rohypnol. It is also known as “Forget-me pill,” “Mexican Valium” and date rape drug.
But as a tranquilizer, it is about ten times more potent than Valium. The drug is available as a white or olive-green pill and is usually sold in the manufacturer’s bubble packaging. Users crush the pills and snort the powder, sprinkle it on marijuana and smoke it, dissolve it in a drink or inject it.
Rohypnol, they say, has been used to commit sexual assaults because it renders the victim incapable of resisting, giving it the reputation of a “date-rape” drug. Its users often describe its effects as “paralyzing.” The effect starts 20 to 30 minutes after taking the drug and peaks within two hours. But it may persist for eight or even 12 hours. A person can be so incapacitated (made unable to act), that they collapse. They lie on the floor, eyes open, able to observe events but completely unable to move. Afterwards, memory is impaired and they cannot recall any of the things that happened. The person may experience loss of muscle control, confusion, drowsiness and amnesia. The drug is sold in Europe and Latin America as a sleeping pill, but it is illegal in the United States and Nigeria.
The real me – Chidinma
But the suspect, who looked sober, also took the opportunity to talk about herself when she is not under the influence of drugs. She described herself as an introvert who goes to clubs to unwind once in a while. She was raised in Ilasa, Lagos by her uncle and aunty, she said. She attended Government Primary School.
For her secondary school education, she attended Alagomeji Secondary School, Yaba, Lagos, but initially stopped at Junior Secondary School 2 owing to paucity of fund. She later went back and continued from Senior Secondary School 1 but also stopped again due to lack of finance. She later managed to complete her secondary school education. She wrote SSCE and UTME and gained admission into the University of Lagos where she was studying Mass Communication before the incident.
Chidinma revealed that her dad is an accountant while her mom is a trader. Her parents are not together, she informed our reporters. They have been separated for a long time. Looking downcast, she talks about deeply regretting her action. She said that she wouldn’t have done what she did if she had the opportunity to go back in time.
She advised young girls to face their education and try to live a good and modest life so that they don’t end up with the wrong crowd like she did. Questioned further on her love life, she said she doesn’t have a boyfriend and remarked that right now she is afraid of her future, given the consequence of her action in the face of the law.
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