The FCT Police Command has confirmed the arrest of twelve suspects connected to the brutal killing of Ms. Somtochukwu Christella Maduagwu, an Anchor, Reporter, and Producer with ARISE News, and Mr. Barnabas Danlami, a security guard, during an armed robbery at Unique Apartments, Katampe Extension, Mabushi, Abuja, on September 29, 2025.
In a statement released on Thursday, the command’s spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, identified the suspects as Shamsudeen Hassan, Hassan Isah (22 years), Abubakar Alkamu, also known as Abba (27 years), Sani Sirajo, also known as Dan Borume (20 years), who served as the gang’s driver, Mashkur Jamilu, also known as Abba (28 years), and Suleiman Badamasi, also known as Dan Sule (21 years), who provided vehicles for the gang’s operations.
Others include Abdulsalam Saleh, also known as Na-Durudu, Zaharadeen Muhammad, also known as Gwaska (23 years), Musa Adamu, also known as Musa Hassan (30 years), Sumayya Mohammed, also known as Baby (27 years), Isah Abdulrahman, also known as Abbati (25 years), and Musa Umar, also known as Small (31 years).
According to Adeh, all the suspects hail from Kaduna and Katsina States.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the gang obtained their firearms from an unidentified supplier in Niger Republic. The suspects have confessed to participating in several other armed robbery operations, including incidents at Katampe 1, a hotel in Apo, and another location in Zuba, all within the Federal Capital Territory.
“Further investigations confirmed that the fatal shot which claimed the life of the security guard, Mr. Barnabas Danlami, was fired by one of the suspects, Shamsudeen Hassan,” Adeh stated.
Items recovered from the suspects include one locally fabricated AK-47 rifle, one locally made pistol, one pump-action gun, thirty-six live ammunition rounds, two live cartridges, four mobile phones, two knives, one cutlass, and one heavy flashlight.
The arrest brings some measure of closure to a case that shocked the media community and residents of Abuja. Ms. Maduagwu’s death, in particular, sparked widespread mourning among journalists and calls for improved security in the nation’s capital.
The police have assured that investigations will continue to apprehend the weapons supplier and any other accomplices still at large, while the arrested suspects will be charged to court upon completion of investigations.
