The trial of eleven defendants linked to the murder of Arise News journalist and anchor, Somtochukwu “Sommie” Maduagwu, continued on Tuesday with a prosecution witness detailing how the suspects were apprehended.
During proceedings at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting in Jabi, Maxwell Eje, an Assistant Superintendent of Police and member of the Scorpion Squad, CID-FCT Command, told the court that the arrests began with one of the defendants, Shamsu Hassan.
According to the witness, police investigations revealed on September 30, 2025, that Hassan had fled to Zaria, Kaduna State, following the robbery at Unique Apartments in Katampe a day earlier. The incident resulted in the death of Maduagwu, who reportedly jumped from her three-storey apartment, and a security guard, Barnabas Danlami.
ASP Eje stated that Hassan admitted to participating in the crime and agreed to cooperate with the police by providing information on the whereabouts of other suspects.
He said Hassan subsequently led investigators to another defendant, Sani Surajo, who was receiving treatment at a hospital in Gosa, a suburb along the airport road in Abuja.
The witness told the court that Surajo appeared shocked when operatives of the Scorpion Squad arrived at the hospital. He also agreed to cooperate with investigators and provided further information that aided the arrest of other suspects linked to the robbery.
However, the testimony of ASP Eje did not proceed to cross-examination, as Dennis Abu, counsel for the seventh to eleventh defendants—who also stood in for counsel to the first and third defendants—sought permission from the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Idris, to attend a medical appointment.
The request led to an adjournment of the case until Thursday, April 23, for the continuation of the witness’s evidence-in-chief and cross-examination.
Earlier, the prosecutor had informed the court that two witnesses were available to testify at the start of Tuesday’s proceedings.
The FCT Police Commissioner had instituted the case against the eleven defendants, who are facing charges of conspiracy, armed robbery, and murder in connection with the September 29, 2025 attack at Unique Apartments, Katampe, Abuja.
The trial commenced on February 10, 2026, after initial delays caused by the absence of defendants and other procedural issues.
Two earlier prosecution witnesses—Sani Yusuf, a civil engineer and former resident of the apartment complex, and Fatou Toborteh, another former resident—had testified about the events of the night.
Both witnesses described how masked armed assailants invaded the apartments but stated that they could not identify any of the defendants, as the attackers concealed their identities during the operation.
The defendants in the case are Shamsu Hassan, Sani Surajo, Hassan Isah, Abubakar Alkamu, Abdulsalam Saleh, Suleiman Badamosi, Zaradeen Mohammed, Musa Umar (also known as “Small”),
Mashikur Jamil, Suleiman Sani, and Abubakar Usman.
