How many more bright Nigerian talents must fall before our nation truly values human life? The brutal killing of Somtochukwu Christella Maduka, the Arise TV reporter, anchor, and producer slain during a robbery in Abuja, is no longer just a headline, it’s a wound that refuses to heal.
Weeks after her death shook the media community, the FCT Police Command says it has finally arrested twelve suspects linked to the violent attack at Unique Apartments, Katampe Extension, Mabushi, on 29 September 2025. The gang, police claim, has confessed to a trail of armed robberies that stretched across the Federal Capital Territory.
According to SP Josephine Adeh, the command’s spokesperson, the suspects, all from Kaduna and Katsina States , admitted to sourcing firearms from a supplier in Niger Republic. The alleged shooter, Shamsudeen Hassan, is said to have fired the bullet that ended Somtochukwu’s promising life and that of a brave security guard, Barnabas Danlami.
But should Nigerians breathe a sigh of relief, or brace for yet another cycle of arrests without justice? How many “investigations” will it take before citizens can walk the streets without fear?
Somtochukwu was more than a name in the newsroom — she was a voice for the voiceless, a storyteller who believed truth could heal this fractured nation. Her death, and the slow unraveling of justice, mirrors the state of our security: uncertain, underfunded, and failing.
Until justice speaks loudly and consistently, every Nigerian journalist remains a potential victim of the same system they serve.