(Somtochukwu Maduagwu Photo credit: BBC)
The third prosecution witness provided information on how arrests were made on Tuesday in the trial of the eleven defendants connected to the death of Somtochukwu Maduagwu, an anchor and journalist for Arise News, during a robbery at her residence.
Maxwell Eje, an Assistant Superintendent of Police and member of the Scorpion Squad, CID-FCT Command, stated that Shamsu Hassan was the first defendant to be arrested during hearings at the FCT High Court in Jabi.
On September 30, 2025, the police learned that Hassan had escaped to Zaria, Kaduna State, following the robbery at Unique Apartments in Katampe the day before, which resulted in Miss Maduagwu jumping to her death from her three-story apartment.
Shamsu Hassan acknowledged the crime and consented to work with the authorities to reveal other people’s hiding places, ASP Eje told the court.
Hassan provided information about Sani Surajo, who was being treated at an unidentified hospital in Gosa, an Abuja suburb near the airport road.
According to the witness, Surajo was startled to see Scorpion Squad members at the hospital.
He also consented to collaborate and provide helpful information regarding the locations of other heist participants.
Dennis Abu, the attorney for the seventh through eleventh defendants (who also held brief for the first and third defendants), requested permission from Judge Mohammed Idris to attend a medical appointment, therefore ASP Maxwell Eje’s witness evidence was not cross-examined.
Due to this, the third prosecution witness’s evidence-in-chief and cross-examination were postponed until Thursday, April 23.
At the beginning of Tuesday’s hearings, the prosecutor had already told the court that he had two witnesses available.
The 11 defendants were sued by the FCT Police Commissioner on charges of conspiracy, armed robbery, and murder in connection with the 29 September 2025 armed robbery at Unique Apartments in Katampe, Abuja, during which Arise News anchor/journalist Somtochukwu “Sommie” Maduagwu and security guard Barnabas Danlami were killed.
The trial began on 10 February 2026 after earlier delays due to the absence of defendants or other issues. The first prosecution witness, Sani Yusuf, a civil engineer and former resident of Unique Apartments, and the second, Fatou Toborteh, another former resident, have so far testified about the events of 29 September.
Both said they could not identify any of the 11 defendants (who were masked during the attack), but they did recall masked armed attackers raiding apartments.
Shamsu Hassan, Sani Surajo, Hassan Isah, Abubakar Alkamu, Abdulsalam Saleh, and Suleiman Badamosi are the defendants. Zaradeen Mohammed, Musa Umar “Aka” Small, Mashikur Jamil, Suleiman Sani, and Abubakar Usman are among the others.
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