By Joy Kaka
The trial of eleven defendants linked to the murder of Arise news correspondent, Somtochukwu Maduagwu continued on Tuesday with a prosecution witness narrating how police operatives apprehended suspects involved in the crime.
Testifying before the FCT High Court, Jabi, ASP. Maxwell Eje said the arrest process started with the apprehension of one of the suspects, Shamsu Hassan in Zaria.
Eje told the court that investigations revealed that Hassan fled to Zaria, Kaduna State, after the Sept. 29, 2025 robbery at Maduagwu”s residence where she reportedly jumped from her apartment to her death.
He said Hassan subsequently confessed to being involved in the crime and agreed to cooperate with investigators by providing information that aided police efforts to trace and arrest other members of the gang.
According to the witness, Hassan identified Sani Surajo, who was traced to a hospital in Gosa, along the Airport Road in Abuja, where he was receiving treatment at the time.
Eje said Surajo appeared shocked on sighting the Scorpion Squad operatives at the hospital but later agreed to cooperate, offering useful information that further assisted the police in tracking additional suspects involved.
The witness could however, not be cross examined as counsel to the 7th to 11th defendants, Mr Dennis Abu, sought leave of court to attend a medical appointment.
Justice Mohammed Idris subsequently adjourned the case until April 23 for continuation of evidence-in-chief of the third prosecution witness and for his cross-examination by defence counsel.
The FCT Police Commissioner instituted the case against the defendants on charges of conspiracy, armed robbery and murder arising from the Sept. 29 incident at Unique Apartments, Katampe, Abuja.
During the incident, Maduagwu and a security guard, Barnabas Danlami, were killed, prompting police investigations that led to the arrest and arraignment of eleven defendants currently standing trial.
The first prosecution witness, Sani Yusuf, and the second witness, Fatou Toborteh, both former residents of the apartment had earlier given their testimony on the events of Sept. 29.
Both witnesses told the court that masked armed men invaded the apartment during the robbery but said they could not identify any of the defendants, as the assailants concealed their identities.
The defendants standing trial are Shamsu Hassan, Sani Surajo, Hassan Isah, Abubakar Alkamu, Abdulsalam Saleh, Suleiman Badamosi, Zaradeen Mohammed, Musa Umar, Mashikur Jamil, Suleiman Sani and Abubakar Usman. (NAN)
