It was 12:46 p.m. on Thursday at Unique Apartments, Plot 1758 Ularamu Medugu Crescent, Katampe, Abuja; the upscale residential estate where Somtochukwu Christelle Maduagwu once lived before her life was tragically cut short.

The neighbourhood looked calm, its empty streets baking under the Abuja sun. Yet only days earlier, these same walls had echoed with the desperate cry of a young woman facing her final moments.

‘Jesus, Jesus!’ she shouted into the night. Neighbours and construction workers heard her voice. Some say the echo still lingers. Moments later, silence fell. That was the last cry of 29-year-old Somtochukwu before she fell from the third floor of her apartment in a desperate bid to escape a band of armed robbers.

A Night That Changed Everything

Unique Apartments is a modern development tucked close to Maitama and Ministers’ Hill. By day, the neighbourhood hums with activity; hundreds of labourers mixing cement, hammers striking, machines buzzing.

By night, however, it falls almost silent. Only a handful of tenants occupy the few completed properties in this fast-developing area, while the rest, about 80 per cent of the buildings, still at various stages of construction, stand in eerie quiet, waiting for residents.

On the night of 30 September, that silence was shattered. Between 14 and 15 armed men forced their way into the estate. They came around 3:00 a.m. with guns, with threats, with fear.

Some construction workers who slept on nearby sites recalled freezing in terror. One of them, who gave his name as Ahmadu, lay flat on the floor inside an unfinished building, praying not to be noticed.

“I did not move. I thought if they saw me, I was gone. I managed to place a call to my supervisor, the man who engaged me on the site, to whisper to him over the phone that I was hearing gunshots in the neighbourhood. He advised me not to move but to stay flat on the floor, so as not to be hit by a stray bullet,” he told Saturday Vanguard in Hausa.

Inside her apartment, Somtochukwu faced the unthinkable. As the men approached, she screamed,

‘Jesus, Jesus!’ Witnesses heard her cry. The robbers, perhaps startled, perhaps unwilling to watch her die, pleaded with her not to jump. But fear had already gripped her. Maybe she thought they would harm her. Maybe she feared what every woman fears in such moments. Maybe she saw no other way.

And so, she leapt. The fall was fatal. Her skull fractured. The life of a young woman who had carried so much promise ended in an instant on the hard ground below.

The Silence After

The robbers vanished into the night, leaving behind broken hearts, trembling witnesses, and the still body of a woman who had once carried herself like a queen. By morning, the estate appeared normal again, save for the sober clusters of labourers and a few residents who gathered quietly to recount the night’s tragic events. Workers picked up their tools. The sun rose over half-built houses. Cars drove past. Yet for those who had heard her cry, nothing would ever feel normal again.

One worker confessed he still cannot close his eyes without hearing her voice. Another said he wished he had done something, anything, to save her. But fear had bound them. And so they remember, in silence.

A Colleague’s Pain

One of Somtochukwu’s colleagues, who craved anonymity, told Saturday Vanguard: “She was from Anambra. That’s how our Sommie left us, just like that. She wasn’t shot, so let’s not go there. The truth is she jumped. There were about 14 or 15 armed robbers. You know how it is with the threat of rape, not every victim can face it. Maybe that fear was why she chose to leap from the third floor. Sadly, she landed badly, and the impact killed her. The injuries were devastating; even her skull was fractured.

“She wasn’t just a colleague, she was a beauty queen with a privileged background, a tourism ambassador for Nigeria. Arise TV was her first job here at home. She joined the Arise family in September 2024, and exactly a year later, in September 2025, we are mourning her.

“I still remember when she first walked through our doors, as if it were yesterday. She lived alone in that apartment, but she was so full of life, so well-travelled, so full of promise. And now, she’s gone.”

Another colleague, when asked what kind of person Somtochukwu was in the office, simply said: “Somtochukwu was reserved, always minding her own business. But if you struck up a conversation with her, she would respond with warmth, and you’d enjoy every moment talking with her. Still, she preferred to keep to herself. Sommie wasn’t just beautiful on the outside. She carried grace. You could see it in how she conducted herself.”

Somtochukwu Christelle Maduagwu was born on 26 December 1995. She was the daughter every parent dreams of raising; bright, determined, and beautiful. She trained as a lawyer, schooling in the United Kingdom, but her ambitions stretched far beyond law.

She had been a beauty queen, carrying herself with elegance. She had served as a tourism ambassador for Nigeria, proud to represent her country abroad. She travelled widely, seeing the world with curious eyes. In September 2024, she joined Arise News in Abuja. Journalism was a new adventure for her, a chance to tell stories, to use her voice, to step into a field that demanded courage. Exactly one year after joining Arise, she was gone.

A Life Interrupted

In her 29 years, Somtochukwu wore many hats; lawyer, ambassador, journalist. But she was more than titles. She was a daughter, a friend, a colleague. Her neighbours remember a young woman who lived alone, independent yet approachable. Her apartment, one of the first occupied in the neighbourhood, was a place she had hoped to build a future from. That future has now been stolen.

The Neighbourhood She Left Behind

Walking through the neighbourhood, with its excellent road network, state-of-the-art solar streetlights and modern infrastructure, the contrast is haunting. The buildings are sleek and polished, their walls gleaming under the Abuja sun. Yet the streets feel empty, like a ghost town.

The plots on both sides of the estate remain undeveloped. Opposite lies property belonging to the Nigerian Navy, while behind Unique Apartments workers still move bricks and mix cement. They lower their voices when her name is mentioned. Some refuse to speak at all, their eyes darting nervously, as though even memory itself might invite danger.

But everyone here knows what happened. Everyone remembers her cry. Everyone carries the weight of that night in their own way.

The Unanswered Questions

Why did it have to be her? Why did the robbers come that night? Could anything have been done differently? These questions hang heavy in the air, with no easy answers. What is clear is this: Somtochukwu’s death was not just the loss of one woman. It was the loss of a future, of dreams, of contributions, of love she could have given, of stories she could have told.

A Cry That Lingers

When the robbers left, they took nothing as valuable as the life they had forced into desperation. The memory of her fall lingers. The cry of “Jesus, Jesus!” still rings across the half-developed buildings in the area. Her death has left her family shattered, her colleagues numb, her friends broken. To know her was to know light. To lose her is to feel darkness. At 29, she was still becoming. She had so much more to give. Yet in one night of terror, all of it ended.

The Final Picture

Today, the apartment where she lived still stands. Its windows reflect the sun as though nothing happened inside. But behind those walls, a tragedy unfolded that will never be forgotten.

Somtochukwu Christelle Maduagwu was more than the way she died. She was an embodiment of brilliance, elegance, determination, and grace. But her last act, her desperate leap, tells a painful story of the fear women face in moments of danger.

Her cry still echoes. Her story still pierces. Her absence is still felt. And perhaps that is the hardest part: not just that she died, but that she died afraid; calling out to God, with her whole life still ahead of her. (By Luminous Jannamike/Vanguard)

Update news