One of the armed robbers who terrorised Arise TV reporter, Somtochukwu Maduagwu, to her death has said that he tried to hold her from falling from the third floor, but her weight was too heavy for him.
The suspect, identified as Sani Sirajo, was among the 12 people picked up in connection with the robbery operation that led to the death of Somtochukwu, a promising journalist with Arise TV.
The reporter had fallen from her third-floor apartment during the robbery operation on 29 September 2025.
The robbers shot dead Barnabas Danlami, a security man guarding the premises housing Somtochukwu’s apartment.
They thereafter invaded the premises and commenced robbing residents one after the other, about 3:30 am.
A preliminary investigation into the incident has shown that the suspects bombarded Unique Apartments, Gishiri Village, Katampe, with the intention of robbing residents.
A police report circulating online indicated that a police team led by ACP Victor Godfrey relied on actionable digital and reconstructive intelligence provided by Giga Forensics, a subsidiary of EIB STRATOC.
The team traced the phones stolen from the apartments and was able to apprehend four of the suspected robbers, namely, Alkamu, Sirajo 20, Shamsudeen Hassan, both from Malumfashi LGA, Katsina State and one other person.
The arrests led the investigating team to more suspects, who were intercepted as they tried to go for another operation at Maitama.
Those arrested included Hassan Isah, 22, from Zaria, Kaduna State, Abubakar Alkamu a.k.a. Abba, 27, from Musawa, Katsina State and Mashkur Jamilu, 28, from Igabi LGA, Kaduna State.
Others were Suleiman Badamasi a.k.a. Dan-sule, 21 years from Malumfashi,.Abdul Salam Saleh a.k.a. na-durudu, from Katsina lga, Katsina State, Zaharadeen Muhammad a.k.a. Gwaska, 23, from Chikun lga, Kaduna State, Musa Adamu a.k.a. Musa Hassan, 30, from Malumfashi, Sumayya Mohammed a.k.a. baby, 27, from Sammaka LGA, Kaduna State, Isah Abdulrahman a.k.a. Abbati, 25, from Zaria and Musa Umar a.k.a. small, 31, from Maiduguri, Borno State.
The police report indicated that Shamsudeen Hassan owned up to shooting the security guard when he tried to stop them from entering the apartment.
Shamsudeen reportedly further confessed that he drove the white Honda CR-V believed to belong to the late journalist out of the apartment after the operation.
The men reportedly also confessed that they each received ₦200,000 from the proceeds of the crime.
Items recovered from them included nine torchlights used during the operation and one AK-47 rifle hidden somewhere at Zuma Rock.
