Personality in Focus
Arise TV Unveils Funeral Programme for Slain Anchor Somto Maduagwu
Arise TV has announced the burial arrangements of its late news anchor, correspondent, and producer, Somtochukwu Christelle Maduagwu.
The update was announced in a video by the station on Saturday.
Maduagwu died in a tragic armed robbery incident on September 29, 2025. The 29-year-old was a lawyer, model, news anchor, reporter, and producer. She was killed during an armed robbery at her residence in the Katampe area of Abuja. A security guard, Barnabas Danlami, also lost his life in the attack.
According to the burial arrangement, an “evening of tributes will be held on Sunday, October 12, 2025, at the THISDAY Dome, Central Business District, Abuja.”
“This will be followed by a service of songs on Wednesday, October 15, 2025, at the Corpus Christi Cathedral, Kaduna Street, Port Harcourt.”
“Her internment in Anambra State on Saturday, October 18, will be preceded by a funeral mass at St. Theresa Catholic Church, Agulu,” the TV station said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command said it has arrested 12 suspects linked to the death of the news anchor.
The Command’s spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, in a statement, disclosed that the armed robbery gang sourced their weapons from a supplier in the Niger Republic.
“Preliminary investigations showed that the syndicate procured its firearms — including a locally fabricated AK-47 rifle, a pump-action gun, and a pistol — from an arms dealer operating across the Nigeria–Niger border,” Adeh said.
Adeh added that “all the suspects are from Kaduna and Katsina States and have confessed to obtaining their weapons from a yet-to-be-identified supplier in the Niger Republic.”
Explaining how the operation to apprehend the suspects was carried out, Adeh said the Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, deployed a special investigation team led by DCP Aliyu Abubakar and assisted by ACP Victor Godfrey to track down and dismantle the network following the murder.
Nigerian academic, literary critic and Professor Emeritus Biodun Jeyifo, is dead. He was 80.
Jeyifo was widely regarded as one of the foremost scholars of Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka.
His passing was announced by the President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters, Andrew Haruna, in a statement on Wednesday, saying the scholar passed away on 11 February.
The Nigerian Academy of Letters expressed condolences to his family and the academic community, describing his passing as a significant loss to literary scholarship in Nigeria and beyond.
In January, an international scholarly gathering was held at the MUSON Centre in Lagos to mark his 80th birthday.
The event drew academics, writers and cultural figures in recognition of his lifelong contributions to literary studies and intellectual life.
Colleagues have often described Mr Jeyifo’s writing as both intellectually rigorous and accessible, blending critical depth with clarity of expression.
Beyond Soyinka studies, he was known for his wide-ranging engagement with world Anglophone literature, cultural theory and postcolonial thought.
Born on 5 January 1946, Mr Jeyifo was a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters and a prominent public intellectual whose career spanned several decades of teaching, research and mentorship across Nigeria and the United States.
Legendary gospel singer, Ron Kenoly, has passed away.
Kenoly’s death has been confirmed by several artistes via their social media pages.
He was 81.
Top Nigerian minister, Nathaniel Bassey, wrote on Instagram: “Dr Ron Kenoly crosses to yonder side.
“Thank you for inspiring generations of psalmists like me.
“I grew up on these songs. And today, others are growing up on ours.
“Thank you sir.”
Kenoly was behind hit songs like Majesty, righteousnes, peace & joy, Anointing, All honour, Sing out, among others.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, on Monday, approved the immediate posting of AIG Olatunji Rilwan Disu as the new Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Force CID Annex Alagbon Lagos. The redeployment is with immediate effect, the National Association of Online Security News Publishers, NAOSNP, can report.
Until the latest posting, AIG Disu was AIG in charge of Special Protection Unit (SPU).
NAOSNP recalls that AIG Disu once served as the Commissioner of Police FCT Command, and Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command, among other exemplary roles. He was decorated with the AIG rank on March 25, 2025.
