Robbery suspects took weapons from…

The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has announced that the armed robber gang responsible for the killing of ARISE News anchor, Somtochukwu Maduagwu, purchased the weapons from a supplier in Niger Republic.

Spokesperson for the Command, SP Josephine Adeh, disclosed this in a statement on Friday while announcing the arrest of 12 suspects linked to the September 29, 2025 robbery and murder at Unique Apartments, Katampe Extension, Abuja, where Maduagwu and a security guard, Barnabas Danlami, lost their lives.

Adeh said preliminary investigations showed that the syndicate procured its firearms – including a locally made AK-47 rifle, a pump action pistol 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 having obtained their weapons from a yet unidentified supplier in Niger Republic,” Adeh said.

Police listed the arrested suspects 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 said the suspects confessed to carrying out operations at Katampe 1, a hotel in Apo, and Zuba, before the robbery that claimed the lives of the Arise News anchor and the security guard.

“They also confessed to having participated in other armed robberies in Katampe 1, a hotel in Apo and another in Zuba, all within the FCT,” the statement added.

Adeh said further investigations confirmed that Hassan Shamsudeen fired the shot that killed the security guard during the attack.

“Further investigations confirmed that the fatal shot that caused the death of the security guard, Mr. Barnabas Danlami, was fired by one of the suspects, Shamsudeen Hassan,” he said.

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Explaining how the operation was conducted to arrest the suspects, Adeh said the Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, deployed a Special Investigation Team led by DCP Aliyu Abubakar and assisted by ACP Victor Godfrey to trace and dismantle the network following the murder.

“Following the tragic incident, the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, CP Ajao S. Adewale psc. mnips., established a Special Investigation Team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department, DCP Aliyu Abubakar, and assisted by the Commander, Scorpion Squad, ACP Victor Godfrey, with a clear mandate to trace and dismantle the criminal network behind the attack. digital reconstruction and conducting coordinated operations in FCT, Nasarawa and Kaduna states, the team successfully arrested the suspects,” he said.

Police urged residents to remain vigilant and report suspicious movements through the emergency lines.

Nigeria has long struggled with the illicit influx of small arms and light weapons from neighboring countries, particularly Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

In 2016, the United Nations expressed concern about the widespread proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in Nigeria, estimating that approximately 350 million of the 500 million such weapons circulating in West Africa were concentrated within the country.

The figure represents approximately 70 percent of the regional total. (The FIST)

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