Somtochukwu Maduagwu, 29, a news anchor and producer with Arise Television, tragically died in the early hours of Monday after finishing a Sunday night shift.
The late lawyer and previous first runner-up Miss Tourism Nigeria, affectionately known as Sommie, left work at 11 p.m. and went back to her apartment in the three-story Unique Apartments building in the Katampe neighbourhood of Abuja, the country’s capital.
After several hours, she awoke to sounds coming from the apartments of her neighbours as a group of armed men broke into the compound.
The flat where Somtochukwu allegedly leapt to avoid being robbed. She apparently ran to the balcony and jumped out of fear.
“She stays in the flat on the last floor. As those boys were heading to her flat after robbing the first and second floors, she jumped from the top and landed on the concrete,” a nanny in one of the apartments said.
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“They have not even touched anything inside her flat. All her belongings are intact. One of our neighbours took her to the hospital, and the hospital was giving many excuses, and then she later died.”
Maduagwu was not the only casualty; Barnabas, a security guard in the compound, was shot to death while trying to resist the robbers.
Police officers from the Mabushi division were present when reporters visited the Unique Apartments on Tuesday. They detained a second security guard who had been on duty during the robbery, a few young males from the nearby shanties, and one of the residents’ drivers.
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Three armed policemen stood at the entrance of the apartment, barring non-residents from gaining access to the compound.
Some residents who declined to be named said the CCTV cameras installed in the apartment were not working, depriving investigators of footage. The inverter powering the compound had also failed, leaving the apartments in darkness as the armed men struck.
Occupants reportedly pay N5 million per annum for a two-bedroom flat in the building, which is managed by Amazing Grace Ventures.
