The killing of Arise TV journalist, Ms. Somtochukwu Maduagwu, penultimate Monday brought to the fore threats posed by criminal elements to the safety of citizens. Maduagwu, who jumped to her death following a robbery attack on her Katampe residence, brought tears and sympathies from her media colleagues and viewers who have followed her during her brief career with the television outfit.
Announcing the death of the news anchor, a statement released by ARISE News Channel, described Maduagwu as “a cherished member of the ARISE News family whose voice engaged and connected with our viewers. Sommie’s voice is now silent but her spirit, passion and legacy will endure as part of our collective memory.”
Following the anguish by Nigerians over the death of the Arise TV reporter, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command announced it was undertaking a swift investigation on the incidence and vowed to leave no stone unturned in unravelling the circumstances under which the news anchor, popularly called ‘Sommie,’ lost her life.
Maduagwu’s death has sparked wide-ranging controversy, with some accusing the hospital where she was rushed to after the attack of negligence. The role of the police, too, came under penetrating scrutiny from a wary public that blamed the government for systemic failure, among other factors. However, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ajao Adewale, repudiated claims linking the journalist’s death to alleged negligence at the Maitama General Hospital, where she was taken after the attack, as untrue.
According to him: “Regarding the circumstances surrounding the incident, to set the record straight, some hoodlums, armed robbers, specifically, gained access into Unique Apartment, where Sommie lives. It is a three-story twin building with 18 flats around the Gishiri axis of Katampe, under the Mabushi Divisional Area. At this point, two guards were on duty,.
“These are private guards, and one of them, who dared to challenge, sustained a gunshot. Under these conditions, panic would have resulted from this kind of environment. Sommie actually occupied an apartment on the topmost floor of the building. And out of fear, she jumped down from that third storey, the top floor. The consequences are what we are seeing. It’s so sad, so unfortunate.”
Refuting allegations that the police team was unprofessional and slow in responding to distress calls for intervention, the police commissioner declared that the response by the police on the matter was professional and timely. He maintained that by the time the security personnel arrived at the scene, the 29-year-old broadcaster was lying unconscious on the floor.
“A distress call was made to the command control room. Police officers moved to the scene. What they could see was the unconscious body of Sommie on the floor. They picked her up there and then took her to Maitama General Hospital, where the doctors on duty tried as much as possible to see whether they can resort to using CPR. Unfortunately, they couldn’t make it. And that was the story,” he explained.
Efforts by the police to unravel the identities of the suspects involved in the Katampe robbery attack paid off when the crime-busting organisation announced that it arrested 12 suspects over the armed robbery attack that led to the death of the news anchor. Confirming the arrest of 12 suspected armed robbers linked to the attack that also claimed the life of a security guard, Barnabas Danlami, the FCT Police Command announced that operatives of the Scorpion Squad, led by ACP Victor Godfrey, carried out the arrests, following digital and reconstructive intelligence. Recovered from the suspects, according to the police, were a 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; cutlass and nine torchlights used during the attack.
The arrest of suspects linked to the armed robbery attack has now assuaged the pains of Maduagwu’s death, and gives assurances that, at last, the suspected criminals involved in the dastardly act, if proven guilty, would face the long arm of the law. Deploying modern tracking devices by the police to arrest these heinous criminals gives the hope that no perpetrator of crime shall escape punishment.
The armed robbery attack on the Katampe residence of the news anchor resonates with recent calls on the need to introduce and equip neighbourhood security for enhanced safety of citizens. Blueprint believes that the presence of effective vigilante teams, equipped with necessary tools, in neighbourhoods could provide the first line of defence against criminals before the arrival of the police. As criminals are constantly engaged in plotting new techniques against the safety of citizens, the police, with the active collaboration of citizens, must also rise to the occasion in their mandate to protect lives and property of the people.
