The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has said that the armed robbery gang behind the killing of Arise News anchor Somtochukwu Maduagwu got their weapons from a supplier based in the Niger Republic.
The Command’s spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, disclosed this in a statement on Friday while confirming the arrest of 12 suspects linked to the deadly robbery of September 29 at Unique Apartments, Katampe Extension, Abuja. The attack claimed the lives of Maduagwu and a security guard, Barnabas Danlami.
Adeh said investigations showed that the syndicate sourced its arms — including a locally made AK-47 rifle, a pump-action gun, and a pistol — from an arms dealer operating across the Nigeria–Niger border.
“All the suspects are from Kaduna and Katsina States and have confessed to obtaining their weapons from a yet-to-be-identified supplier in the Niger Republic,” Adeh stated.
The arrested suspects were identified as Shamsudeen Hassan, Hassan Isah (22), Abubakar Alkamu (27), Sani Sirajo (20), Mashkur Jamilu (28), Suleiman Badamasi (21), Abdulsalam Saleh, Zaharadeen Muhammad (23), Musa Adamu (30), Sumayya Mohammed (27), Isah Abdulrahman (25), and Musa Umar (31).
Adeh added that the suspects confessed to carrying out previous armed robbery operations in Katampe 1, Apo, and Zuba before the fatal incident involving the Arise TV journalist.
“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,” she said.
The police said the arrests followed a coordinated manhunt launched by Commissioner of Police Ajao Adewale, who set up a special investigation team led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Aliyu Abubakar and assisted by ACP Victor Godfrey.
“Leveraging digital reconstructive intelligence and conducting coordinated operations across the FCT, Nasarawa, and Kaduna States, the team successfully apprehended the suspects,” Adeh added.
The police urged residents to stay alert and report suspicious activities to security agencies.
Nigeria continues to face challenges with the spread of illegal small arms from neighbouring countries such as Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. The United Nations had earlier warned that around 350 million of the 500 million illicit weapons circulating in West Africa are concentrated in Nigeria.
