Prof. Ibrahim A. Gambari, founder and chairman of the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy & Development, and former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, has commiserated with Maureen Chigbo and her family on the tragic loss of her elder sister, Barrister Nwamaka Chigbo, on January 5, 2026.

The condolence letter, personally signed by Prof. Gambari and addressed to Dr Maureen Chigbo, was dated January 12, 2026.

“I sincerely sympathise with you and your family on this huge and irreplaceable loss. I want to take solace in the knowledge that your sister has lived her life in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ and has touched so many lives with her benevolence,” said Gambari, who was also former Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the United Nations and former Under Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs.

He prayed for Nwamaka’s soul to rest in peace, adding: “And may the Lord give you and the family the fortitude to bear this pain.”

The family of Princess Nwamaka Mediatrix Chigbo, an Abuja-based lawyer, sadly announced her brutal death at the hands of still-to-be-identified kidnappers in the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory on Monday, 5th January 2026.

Before her abduction, Barrister Nwamaka was on the phone with her sister Anthonia, who briefly interrupted the call to attend to a client. When she reverted, the barrister’s phone was still live, and Anthonia could hear her sister’s distress cry before the phone suddenly went dead and unreachable.

Anthonia alerted her elder sister, Maureen Chigbo, and other family members, who called the lawyer’s number repeatedly to reach her or her abductors to no avail.

When a call finally went through, a male voice rained curses in English and Hausa language, saying: "Thunder fire you there, send three million Naira or else we will kill her." The captors gave no further details and abruptly terminated subsequent calls.

The Chigbo family has met with the Police authorities, who assured them that the case was under investigation and that the culprits would be apprehended.

Nwamaka was an active member and former treasurer of the Nigerian Bar Association, Abuja, member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, IFWL, FIDA and Global Association of Female Lawyers, GAFA. She was a former President of Catholic Lawyers Association, Abuja.

An ardent Catholic, Nwamaka authored a book on Infant Jesus, and until death was the vice president of the Infant Jesus Association, member of the Mother of Perpetual Help Catholic Group among other religious groups.

Update news