Police Trace Weapons Used in Arise TV Anchor’s Murder to Niger Republic

The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has arrested 12 people linked to the robbery and killing of Arise TV presenter, Somtochukwu Maduagwu, and a security guard, Barnabas Danlami, at Unique Apartments in Katampe Extension, Abuja.

The police revealed that the suspects obtained their weapons from an arms dealer based in the Niger Republic. According to the command, the gang carried out the fatal attack on September 29, 2025, using guns sourced across the Nigeria–Niger border.

Investigations showed that the weapons included a locally made AK-47 rifle, a pump-action gun, and a pistol.Those arrested were identified as Shamsudeen Hassan, Hassan Isah, Abubakar Alkamu, Sani Sirajo, Mashkur Jamilu, Suleiman Badamasi, Abdulsalam Saleh, Zaharadeen Muhammad, Musa Adamu, Sumayya Mohammed, Isah Abdulrahman, and Musa Umar.

The suspects are from Kaduna and Katsina states and reportedly confessed to carrying out other robberies in Katampe 1, Apo, and Zuba before the deadly operation.Further findings revealed that one of the suspects, Shamsudeen Hassan, fired the shot that killed the security guard during the attack.

Following the incident, the Commissioner of Police for the FCT, Ajao Adewale, deployed a special investigation team led by DCP Aliyu Abubakar and assisted by ACP Victor Godfrey to track down the criminals.

Through coordinated intelligence operations across the FCT, Nasarawa, and Kaduna states, the team successfully arrested the suspects and recovered weapons linked to the crime.The police urged residents to remain watchful and report any suspicious activity through the command’s emergency lines.

Nigeria continues to face the challenge of illegal arms trafficking, with many weapons entering through porous borders shared with Niger, Chad, and Cameroon.

A 2016 United Nations report estimated that Nigeria holds about 350 million of the 500 million small arms circulating in West Africa, representing roughly 70 percent of the region’s total.