Face of AKB48 前田敦子 (Maeda Atsuko) made a surprising announcement of her decision to quit the group during their tour at the Saitama Super Arena. It was reported that even her agent wasn’t informed of her decision prior to the public announcement.
For more information, watch this video.
Actually, she’s not leaving the group yet, nor packing up, as there’s no definite date according to her; possibly after performing at Tokyo Dome later this year, her crew’s penultimate objective.
Looks like the video is not viewable anymore, below is another one.