Judge Mohammed Idris of the FCT High Court in Jabi, Abuja, on Wednesday, watched a confessional video recording of suspects concerned in the final 12 months September’s armed theft that claimed the lives of Arise News Television journalist Somtochukwu Maduagwu and her residence’s safety guard.
The prosecution offered the video recording, which captured the police interrogation periods of the 11 defendants dealing with fees in the case.
However, solely in regards to the first 20 minutes of the video was performed again, exhibiting solely two of the defendants taking turns to present their oral statements.
The playback was stopped after the defence lawyer requested it to be discontinued to avoid wasting the court docket’s time.
Ms Maduagwu was killed alongside safety guard Barnabas Danlami in the course of the armed theft assault on her Unique Apartments residence in Katampe, Abuja, on 5 September 2025.
In January, the police arraigned 11 suspects linked to the theft. They embrace Shamsu Hassan, Sani Sirajo, Hassan Isah, Abubakar Alkamu, Abdulsalam Saleh, and Suleiman Badamasi.
The relaxation are Zaharadeen Mohammed, Musa Umar, Mashkur Jamil, Suleiman Sani, and Abubakar Usman.
They all pleaded not responsible to 9 counts of legal conspiracy, armed theft and murder.
The decide, Mr Idris, subsequently remanded them in the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, from the place they’ve been standing trial.
What video recording exhibits
The police’s prosecution lawyer, Adama Musa, tendered the recording throughout Thursday’s listening to via Douglas Ishaku, an assistant superintendent of police who appeared because the fourth prosecution witness.
Mr Ishaku informed the court docket that he recorded the suspects’ confessional statements and requested questions in Hausa, and translated the questions in the English language. He stated he additionally after translated the suspects’ Hausa responses to English.
After admitting the recording as an exhibit, the decide granted the prosecution’s request for its playback.
The decide, sourrounded by the prosecution and defence attorneys watched the video on a laptop computer dealing with them, whereas the court docket viewers listened to the audio.
In the video clip, the primary defendant, Mr Hassan, confirmed that he was conscious that he was being investigated for armed theft.
He additionally named different gang members allegedly on the scene of the crime, together with Sani, Abba, Kabari (stated to be at massive), and Nura. He additionally stated they used knives and weapons in the course of the operation.
He confirmed capturing the safety guard when he tried to overpower one of many gang members. But he stated he was not conscious that the guard later died. He additionally famous that because of the gunshot, a woman jumped down from the constructing.
Mr Hassan was additionally captured in the video clip as saying that the gang carted away gadgets, together with a automobile. He took N200,000 as his personal share of the proceeds, Mr Hassan stated.
For Mr Sirajo, the second defendant, he confirmed in the video recording being the motive force of the automobile that transported the gang members to Unique Apartment.
He stated one of many co-defendants, Mr Suleiman, supplied the automobile, which he picked from Area 1 in Abuja.
He stated after fuelling the automobile, he drove to Sauka to choose up Abba earlier than continuing to Madalla to fetched Mr Kabari and Mr Hassan. He stated he additionally picked Isah and Nura from Kubwa.
The second defendant additionally stated Mr Kabari gave him directions and instructions information to the goal location in Katampe. He stated whereas Messrs Hassan and Kabari held weapons, Mr Isah and Nura held machetes, and Abba held a knife.
On arrival at Unique Apartments, the defendant stated he parked the automobile and was observing the theft when he heard a gunshot.
At this level, the attorneys for the 11 defendants agreed that they’d seen sufficient of the video.
The prosecution ended his examination-in-chief.
Cross-examination
Four attorneys for the primary to sixth defendants cross-examined Mr Ishaku on the process adopted in taking the confessional statements.
A.B. Samson, the primary defendant’s lawyer, requested in regards to the dates the written and the video-recorded statements had been taken however the witness stated he couldn’t recall.
Mr Samson, who fielded questions that sought to look at compliance by the police with the safeguards supplied for in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), additionally confirmed that attorneys or family of the suspects weren’t current in the course of the recording of the suspects’ statements.
The witness, additionally confirmed that the theft victims couldn’t establish the defendants.
In September, the witness informed the court docket that the second defendant was arrested at a hospital in Gosa-Toge in Abuja the place he was receiving therapy.
But on Wednesday, Mr Ishaku, fielding cross-examination questions from the second defendant’s lawyer, William Otabor, stated he couldn’t recall the identify of the hospital or a employees member of the hospital he spoke to. But he stated he knew the ailment the defendant was receiving treament for, though he ommitted the knowledge in his personal witness assertion.
Mr Ishaku stated he didn’t discover the devices stolen from the theft scene on the defendant when he was arrested. However, when storing the recovered gun that the defendant led them to, he didn’t go together with the keeper to the police exhibit room.
The third defendant’s lawyer, E. I Onoja, adopted the cross-examination by first and second defendant’s attorneys.
Responding to questions from the fourth to the sixth defendants’ lawyer, Ojonomi Apeh, the witness confirmed that the fifth defendant denied collaborating in the theft however that his denial was discovered to be baseless. He stated investigation confirmed that the fifth defendant was a part of the theft gang.
The decide adjourned proceedings till 9 December for the continuation of the cross-examination by Mr Apeh.
READ ALSO: How Arise News journalist Somtochukwu Maduagwu was killed during armed robbery Police witness
The case up to now
In September, Mr Ishaku informed the court docket that Ms Maduagwu, the Arise News journalist, was pushed over a three-storey constructing by a member of the theft gang and that one of many robbers shot the safety guard, Mr Danlami, in the course of the 29 September 2025 theft assault.
Earlier in April, Maxwell Eje, an assistant suprintendent of police, narrated how the police arrested the suspected armed robbers and recovered a few of their weapons.
Mr Eje stated an English double-barrelled gun and an AK-47 utilized by the assailants had been recovered following the confession of a suspect.
During earlier proceedings in February, two witnesses, Sani Yusuf and Fatou Toborteh, who had been Ms Maduagwu’s neighbours on the Unique Apartment, Katampe, took turns to testify in regards to the incident.
In their separate testimonies, they stated they heard feminine screams on the evening of the incident.
The two witnesses, who had been robbed that evening, recalled seeing Ms Maduagwu’s physique with a severe head damage. They stated she was later confirmed useless on the hospital.
However, they stated they might not establish any of the defendants as a result of the robbers had been masked on the evening of the theft.
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