The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has smashed the armed robbery gang that murdered ARISE News anchor, Somtochukwu Maduagwu, revealing that the syndicate sourced its weapons from Niger Republic.
In a statement made available on Friday, the Command’s spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, said 12 suspects linked to the gruesome September 29, 2025, robbery and double murder at Unique Apartments, Katampe Extension, Abuja, have been arrested.
The attack claimed the lives of Maduagwu and a security guard, Barnabas Danlami.
According to Adeh, preliminary investigations uncovered that the gang purchased its cache of firearms — a locally fabricated AK-47 rifle, a pump-action gun, and a pistol — from an arms dealer operating across the Nigeria–Niger border.
She said, “All the suspects are from Kaduna and Katsina States and have confessed to obtaining their weapons from a yet-to-be-identified supplier in Niger Republic,”
The arrested suspects were named 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).
disclosed that the gang confessed to carrying out several other armed robberies within the FCT before the fatal Katampe attack.
“They have also confessed to participating in other armed robbery operations at Katampe 1, a hotel in Apo, and another in Zuba, all within the FCT,” the statement added.
Police findings revealed that it was Shamsudeen Hassan who fired the fatal shot that killed the security guard. “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.
Explaining how the police cracked the case, Adeh said the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Ajao S. Adewale, mobilized a Special Investigation Team led by DCP Aliyu Abubakar and supported by ACP Victor Godfrey to track and dismantle the network.
“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 track down and dismantle the criminal network behind the attack. Leveraging digital reconstructive intelligence and conducting coordinated operations across the FCT, Nasarawa, and Kaduna states, the team successfully apprehended the suspects,” she said.
The Command urged residents to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious movements through its emergency hotlines. Nigeria continues to grapple with the flood of illicit small arms and light weapons from neighbouring countries — particularly Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.
The United Nations had in 2016, warned that roughly 350 million of the 500 million such weapons circulating in West Africa were concentrated in Nigeria alone, underscoring the grave security challenge that persists today.
 Police Command has smashed the armed robbery gang that murdered ARISE News anchor, Somtochukwu Maduagwu,){kind=link}