Attorneys to the the household of late Michael Usifo Ataga have appealed to the Police to dig past the arrest of his suspected assassin.
The appeal was made on Sunday in a press release signed by Olusegun Jolaawo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on behalf of Rickey Tarfa & Co, solicitors to the household.
Ataga, who was first declared missing on June 13 in Lagos, was killed by his girlfriend, Chidinma Adaorah Ojukwu, a student of the University of Lagos. His body was discovered at a AirBnB facility in Lekki, Lagos on 17 June, his fiftieth birthday. He was until his gruesome homicide, the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV in Lagos.
In the statement Jolaowo urged these behind malicious social media publications to be prepared for lawsuits.
He urged the bloggers to cease publishing falsehood that impinges negatively on the integrity of the deceased, his spouse and children. He additionally urged Nigerians to permit the Police to conduct their investigations with none distraction or interference.
“We all know that suspect (identify withheld) has been arrested and we all know that investigation is continuous. Our client is, nonetheless, satisfied that there’s much more to this than is already obvious from the Police investigation. It has become obvious that from the variability and inherent malice in many of the media publications, they’re planted to embarrass and malign Usifo Ataga, Brenda Ataga and the household,’’
“Our client appreciates the efforts of the law enforcement agencies of their investigations so far and won’t descend into particulars with respect to any of the mentioned false narratives in order to not inadvertently aid the perpetrators of the homicide in protecting their tracks.’’
The lawyer lamented that the tragic incident of the chilly blooded homicide of late Ataga had inundated all strata of the media with inconceivable tales being peddled on all types of platforms concerning the incident and, subsequently, referred to as for restraints from the publishers of the unfounded tales.
“Our consumer requests that the well-meaning public enable the household to mourn their departed son, father and husband with some privateness and decency. Our consumer additionally feels very strongly concerning the unbridled actions of bloggers on the social media area with respect to this incident and firmly calls for that the mentioned bloggers desist from peddling falsehood geared toward maligning the deceased, his spouse and children. The household is not going to be intimidated by these bloggers’ actions and demand that the Police be allowed to do their work.
“Our client hereby demand that the false publications and the several ordinarily unrelated tales and footage of late Ataga and Brenda Ataga be pulled down with quick effect. Failing, our client shall take immediate and acceptable motion to hunt redress for the obvious situations of libel and slander as acceptable,’’ he added.
