The family of an Abuja-based lawyer,Princess Nwamaka Mediatrix Chigbo, has revealed how she was killed by suspected kidnappers after she was abducted from her residence in the Federal Capital Territory(FCT).
A statement by a spokesperson for the family, Maureen Chigbo,who is also the publisher of Realnews Magazine, said before the abduction of the deceased on Manday,January 5,2026,she was on the phone with her sister Anthonia, who briefly interrupted the call to attend to a client.
The family, which expressed sadness over her brutal death,stated that “When Anthonia 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”.
It said Anthonia alerted the family’s spokesperson (Maureen Chigbo) and other family members, who called the lawyer’s number repeatedly to reach her or her abductors to no avail.
The statement added that when a call finally went through, a male voice rained curses in English and Hausa languages, saying: “Thunder fire you there, send three million Naira or else we will kill her”,and the captors gave no further details but abruptly terminated subsequent calls.
It said the decreased family later tried to contact the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Public Relations Officer,leaving a text message on her phone, which the family was referred to two police complaint numbers.
The family further said that it sent a distress text and WhatsApp message to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), and also contacted the FCT Police Commissioner, who immediately linked them up to the Commander of the Scorpion Squad, in charge of kidnapping in Abuja.
“The Commander later called to inform the family that the police were tracking the kidnappers, who were said to be “in motion and would likely drop the lawyer off once they might have collected the ransom.”
The kidnappers never initiated any calls, and when Nwamaka’s family members reached them through her phone for clarification on how the ransom would be paid, they only heard the lawyer screaming in pain, “I am dying,save me, please send the money, I am dying,” before the phone finally went dead again”,it stated.
According to the family,it maintained contact with the Police Commander throughout Monday night to follow up on the rescue operation and at “4 am on Tuesday, January 6,2026, when Maureen called the Commander, he expressed surprise that the lawyer had not called or returned home. He then promised to escalate the rescue operation”.
It said the commander later called to inform the family that “a lady had been found in a critical condition” and taken to an Abuja specialist hospital and requested that Nwamaka’s picture be sent for identification purposes.
It was at that point that the spokesperson for the family(Maureen Chigbo) who is based in Lagos, immediately took a flight to Abuja and on reaching the hospital, saw her sister’s lifeless body in the mortuary with bruises, swollen eyes and a cracked skull, all signs of a tortured death.
It said the family has met with the Police authorities, who assured that the case was under investigation and that the culprits would be apprehended.
It said Nwamaka was an active member and former treasurer of the Nigerian Bar Association, Abuja, a member of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, IFWL,
FIDA and Global Association of Female Lawyers, GAFA.
She was a former President of the Catholic Lawyers Association, Abuja.
An ardent Catholic, Nwamaka authored a book on Infant Jesus, and until her death, was the vice president of the Infant Jesus Association and member of the Mother of Perpetual Help Catholic Group among other religious groups.
