Two prosecution witnesses on Tuesday told an FCT High Court that they could not identify any of the 11 suspects standing trial for the murder of Arise News correspondent Somtochukwu “Sommie” Maduagwu.
The witnesses, who testified as PW1 and PW2, appeared before Justice Mohammed Idris in the ongoing trial over an armed robbery incident at Unique Apartments, Katampe, Abuja, on September 29, 2025.
The defendants are facing a nine-count amended charge bordering on criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and murder.
They were arraigned in January and have been in custody at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
Ms. Maduagwu, a 29-year-old Arise Television correspondent, died after falling from the third floor of her apartment while attempting to escape the robbery.
A security guard at the estate, Barnabas Danlami, was also shot during the incident and later died.
The first prosecution witness, Sani Yusuf, told the court that he was asleep between 3:00 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. when he heard voices speaking Hausa and loud banging sounds, which he believed included gunshots.
“I was asleep when I heard noise and then a loud bang that sounded like a gunshot. I also heard someone shouting in Hausa, ‘Where are you? Come out!’” Mr Yusuf said.
He said two masked men entered his apartment, one holding a torchlight and another carrying an object he believed was a knife.
According to him, the men demanded his Samsung Galaxy S25 phone and MacBook Air laptop and searched his rooms before leaving.
Yusuf said that shortly after, he heard a security guard shouting that his colleague, Barnabas, had been shot.
“When I got downstairs, I saw the body of a female tenant lying face down on the ground. I thought she had also been shot,” he said.
He told the court that residents rushed the injured guard to Maitama District Hospital.
When he later returned to the hospital around 4:00 a.m., he recognised the female body he had earlier seen and later learnt she was his neighbour, Somtochukwu Maduagwu.
“I recognised her from the estate group chat,” Yusuf said, adding that he could not identify any of the attackers because they wore masks.
The second prosecution witness, Fatou Toborteh, also told the court that she could not recognise any of the defendants.
She said she was asleep with her aunt and her aunt’s children when the robbers forced their way into their apartment.
“They demanded phones and money. I pointed to my phone on the floor. They searched my room and took my wallet, car key and cash,” she said.
Toborteh said the robbers also entered her aunt’s room and took phones and a wristwatch, while another suspect went into her cousin’s room and took a laptop and cash.
She told the court that the attackers later drove away in her white Honda CR-V.
“When they left, we went to the balcony and saw Sommie lying on the ground with blood around her head. We did not know it was her at first,” she said.
The witness added that her aunt was hospitalised for three days after sustaining an injury during the robbery.
Neither of the defence counsel cross-examined the witnesses.
Justice Idris adjourned the matter until February 12, for continuation of trial.
