Police Apprehend 12 Robbers Of Somto’s Residence

THE Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has confirmed the arrest of 12 suspected armed robbers whose attack on the Unique Apartments in Gishiri Village, Katampe District, Abuja, residence of Arise News staff, Somtochukwu Christelle Maduagwu, led to her ultimate death, as well as a security guard, Barnabas Danlami.
The suspects were said to have been arrested by operatives of the Scorpion Squad, led by Victor Godfrey (ACP), following digital and reconstructive intelligence provided by Giga Forensics, a subsidiary of EIB Stratoc.
The suspects include Shamsudeen Hassan, ‘m,’ from Malumfashi Local Council of Katsina State; Hassan Isah, ‘m,’ 22 years old, from Zaria, Kaduna State; Abubakar Alkamu (a.k.a. Abba), ‘m,’ 27 years old, from Musawa Local Council of Katsina State; Sani Sirajo (a.k.a. Dan Borume) ‘m,’ 20 years old, from Malumfashi, Katsina State; Mashkur Jamilu (a.k.a. Abba), ‘m,’ 28 years old from Igabi Local Council of Kaduna State; Suleiman Badamasi (a.k.a. Dan-sule), ‘m,’ 21 years old, from Malumfashi, Katsina State; and Abdul Salam Saleh (a.k.a. Na-durudu), ‘m,’ from Katsina Council of Katsina State.
Other are Zaharadeen Muhammad (a.k.a. Gwaska), ‘m,’ 23 years old, from Chikun Local Council of Kaduna State; Musa Adamu (a.k.a. Musa Hassan), ‘m,’ 30 years old, from Malumfashi, Katsina State; Sumayya Mohammed (a.k.a. Baby), ‘m,’ 27 years old, from Sammaka Local Council of Kaduna State; Isah Abdulrahman (a.k.a. Abbati), ‘m,’ 25 years old, from Zaria, Kaduna State; and Musa Umar (a.k.a. Small), ‘m,’ 31 years old, from Maiduguri Local Council of Borno State.
The Police said the robbery occurred on September 29, around 3:30 a.m., when the gang invaded the apartment, adding that during interrogation, Hassan confessed to shooting Danlami when he attempted to stop them from gaining entry.
Another, Sirajo, claimed he tried to stop Somto from falling off the three-storey building, but failed, saying: “I tried to stop her from jumping, but I couldn’t because she was too heavy.”
Hassan also admitted that he drove away the victim’s white Toyota Honda CRV car after the operation.
The suspects allegedly admitted sharing N200,000 each from the proceeds of the robbery.
Items recovered by the Police from the suspects include one fabricated AK-47 rifle; 36 rounds of live ammunition; one pump-action gun; one locally-made pistol; two live cartridges; four mobile phones belonging to the victims; two knives; a cutlass; and nine torchlights used during the operation.
The Police explained that four of the suspects, including Hassan, Alkamu and Sirajo, were first arrested after investigators tracked the victims’ stolen phones.
Further digital intelligence led to the arrest of the remaining gang members on Wednesday, October 8, while on their way to another robbery operation in Maitama, Abuja.
The Command said all the suspects had confessed to their involvement in the crimes, while efforts were ongoing to apprehend other fleeing members of the gang.