A friend of the late Arise Television anchor, Somtochukwu Maduagwu, has narrated how the promising journalist lost her life in the aftermath of a robbery attack on her Katampe residence in Abuja.
Maduagwu, fondly called Sommie, reportedly died after sustaining fatal injuries from a fall while attempting to escape armed robbers who invaded her apartment in the early hours of Tuesday.
Eyewitness accounts revealed that the gang, numbering about 15, stormed Unique Apartments, Plot 1706 Katampe, at about 2:30 a.m., killing one vigilante guard who resisted them and tying up four others.
They went on to raid over 10 flats in the luxury estate, where rents range between N2.5 million and N4 million yearly.
Speaking on the incident, a vigilante who survived said the late anchor panicked and jumped from her second-floor one-bedroom apartment as the gunmen went on rampage.
“She must have thought that was the only way to save her life, but the fall left her in a coma. She couldn’t even talk,” he said.
He dismissed rumours that police officers refused to convey her to hospital because they lacked fuel.
According to him, one of the residents had already carried her into his car when he met policemen at the gate. “The officers followed him to the hospital, but unfortunately, she could not survive the injuries,” he explained.
A neighbour who spoke under condition of anonymity added: “If not for the hard cemented floor, she might have survived. Nobody can say for sure which part of her body hit the ground, but the impact was devastating.”
The attack lasted for nearly 90 minutes, leaving tenants terrified and sparking concerns over security in highbrow parts of the Federal Capital Territory. Following the incident, all vigilantes attached to the estate have reportedly been replaced.
Maduagwu’s untimely death has thrown the media industry into mourning, with colleagues and viewers describing her as a rising star whose career was cut short by Nigeria’s worsening insecurity.
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