The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has revealed that the armed robbers responsible for the killing of ARISE News anchor, Somtochukwu Maduagwu, sourced their weapons from a supplier based in the Niger Republic.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday by the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh.
According to Adeh, preliminary investigations showed that the criminal syndicate procured its firearms — including a locally fabricated AK-47 rifle, a pump-action gun, and a pistol — from an arms dealer operating along 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 police identified 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 further disclosed that the suspects confessed to several robbery operations in the FCT, including attacks at Katampe 1, a hotel in Apo, and another in Zuba, before the fatal incident that claimed the lives of Maduagwu and a security guard.
“Further investigation confirmed that Hassan Shamsudeen fired the shot that killed the security guard during the attack,” she added.
The Police Command assured residents that efforts are ongoing to apprehend the arms supplier and any other accomplices linked to the crime.