I stopped Sommie from jumping but she was heavy – Robbery suspect confesses to death of Arise TV anchor
One of the suspects involved in the armed robbery attack at Unique Apartments, a 16-flat, four-storey building in the Katampe area of Abuja, Sani Sirajo, has confessed that he tried to stop Somtochukwu Maduagwu, the late Arise Television news anchor and producer, from jumping off the building during the incident.
Sirajo’s confession came after personnel of the Nigeria Police Force obtained statements from members of the robbery gang following their arrest.
According to him, he attempted to hold Somtochukwu—fondly known as Sommie—from falling off the building but was unable to sustain her weight.
Earlier, the police confirmed the arrests in a statement, saying: “Operatives of the Scorpion Squad, led by ACP Victor Godfrey, acting on actionable digital and reconstructive intelligence provided by Giga Forensics, a subsidiary of EIB STRATOC, have successfully arrested twelve (12) of the armed robbers involved in the operation.”
The statement added that the suspects were tracked through mobile phones stolen from the victims in the building.
Another suspect, Shamsudeen Hassan, reportedly confessed to shooting the security guard identified as Barnabas Danlami during the attack.
The suspects were listed as:
1.Shamsudeen Hassan ‘m’ from Malumfashi LGA Katsina state
2.Hassan Isah ‘m’, 22 years from Zaria kaduna State
3.Abubakar Alkamu a.k.a. abba ‘m’, 27 years from Musawa LGA katsina state
4.Sani Sirajo a.k.a. dan borume ‘m’ 20 years from Malumfashi LGA katsina state
5.Mashkur Jamilu a.k.a. abba ‘m’ 28 years from Igabi LGA kaduna state
6.Suleiman Badamasi a.k.a. dan-sule ‘m’ 21 years from Malumfashi LGA katsina state
7.Abdul Salam saleh a.k.a. na-durudu ‘m’ from katsina lga katsina State
8.Zaharadeen Muhammad a.k.a. gwaska ‘m’ 23 years from chikun lga kaduna state
9.Musa adamu a.k.a. musa hassan ‘m’ 30 years from malumfashi lga katsina state
10.Sumayya Mohammed a.k.a. baby ‘m’ 27 years from Sammaka LGA, Kaduna state
11.Isah Abdulrahman a.k.a. abbati ‘m’, 25 years from Zaria LGA, Kaduna state
12.Musa Umar a.k.a. small ‘m’ 31 years from Maiduguri LGA Borno state.