FCT Police Arrest Three Over 2024 Murder of Liberty Radio Staff After Year-Long Investigation
By Joseph Iyaji | Akahi News

Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command have apprehended three suspects in connection with the gruesome murder of a Liberty Radio staff member, Mr. Azubuko Nwakama, more than a year after the incident occurred.

Nwakama was attacked and robbed on 14th June 2024 at the bustling Panteka Market in Mpape, Abuja. Despite efforts to save him, he later died from the injuries sustained during the assault. The crime sent shockwaves through the media community and the Mpape neighbourhood, triggering a painstaking investigation that would span over a year.

In a statement released on Sunday, the FCT Police Command’s spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, revealed that detectives from the Mpape Division were immediately deployed to investigate the incident. The assailants, armed with knives, had dispossessed the victim of his Redmi 13C mobile phone and other personal belongings before fleeing the scene.

Adeh explained that the investigation faced significant challenges from the outset. The stolen phone — a crucial piece of evidence — remained switched off for more than a year, thwarting all initial attempts to trace the culprits. However, the detectives refused to abandon the case, maintaining active surveillance and monitoring for any potential digital footprint that could lead to a breakthrough.

That breakthrough came on 2nd August 2025, when the stolen phone was powered on for the first time since the murder. The signal was immediately traced to Mutari Lawal, a 32-year-old from Kano State, who was swiftly arrested.

During interrogation, Lawal confessed to the crime, admitting that he, alongside Dan’Asabe Ibrahim (22, from Zamfara State) and Danjuma Ibrahim (18, of no fixed address in Mpape), had attacked and stabbed Nwakama before making away with his belongings. He further revealed that he took the stolen phone to Kano, kept it switched off for an entire year, and only powered it on in August 2025 to erase the victim’s data, insert his SIM card, and return to Abuja.

Following Lawal’s confession, police operatives moved quickly to apprehend the other two suspects. They are currently in custody and will be charged to court upon the conclusion of investigations.

The Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Ajao Adewale, commended the officers for their diligence, patience, and commitment in solving the case despite the long delay. He issued a stern warning to criminal elements in the territory, stressing that “no matter how long it takes, the law will catch up with those who commit heinous acts.”

The arrest brings some measure of closure to the family, friends, and colleagues of the late Nwakama, whose death had remained an open wound in Abuja’s journalistic and local community.

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