A police investigator has told an Abuja High Court that ARISE News journalist Somtochukwu Maduagwu was pushed from a building by one of the suspected robbers during the September 2025 attack that claimed her life.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Douglas Ishaku, a member of the FCT Police Command’s Scorpion Squad, gave the evidence on Tuesday while testifying as the fourth prosecution witness.
Ishaku said investigations revealed that one of the suspects pushed Maduagwu from the two-storey building at Unique Apartments, Katampe Extension, Abuja.
The testimony contradicts an earlier account by the FCT Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, who said in October 2025 that Maduagwu jumped from the third floor while trying to escape the robbers.
Diaspora Digital Media reports that Maduagwu, 29, was killed alongside Barnabas Danlami, a security guard who was shot during the robbery.
Ishaku told Justice Mohammed Idris that the 11 defendants were members of a larger criminal syndicate operating in Abuja.
He said the first defendant, Shamsu Hassan, allegedly shot Danlami with a locally fabricated AK-47 rifle, while a foreign-made pump-action rifle used in the operation belonged to the second defendant, Sani Surajo.
The police recovered the two firearms, along with daggers and machetes, during the arrests, the witness told the court.
Ishaku also said a suspect identified as Dogo, who remains at large, drove away a white Honda CR-V belonging to Fatou Toborteh, a former resident of the apartment complex.
The robbers allegedly stole cash, laptops and mobile phones during the attack.
The prosecution counsel, Adama Musa, told the court that he intended to tender a video recording of the defendants during the recording of their confessional statements.
Justice Idris granted the request and adjourned the case until October 7 for continuation of the trial.
The 11 defendants face nine counts bordering on criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide punishable by death. They all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Maduagwu, a lawyer-turned-broadcast journalist, joined ARISE News in 2024 as a reporter, producer and anchor. She was buried in Agulu, Anambra State, on October 18, 2025.
