DSS arrests five Niger national, others for supplying bandits firearms

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested five suspected arms couriers, including two foreign nationals from Niger Republic, over their alleged role in supplying weapons to gunmen behind the November 2025 mass abduction at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State.

Among those arrested are Yusuf Mohammed, also known as Bature, a suspected member of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), and his associate Mubarak Ibrahim.

The two were intercepted along the Zaria–Kaduna Highway while allegedly travelling to receive a consignment of weapons meant for insurgent commanders.

In a separate operation, DSS operatives arrested Goni Ibrahim, described as an international arms courier from Niger Republic’s Diffa Region, alongside an accomplice, Tukur Sani.

Recovered from them were 15 AK-103 rifles, 15 magazines, and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition concealed in a vehicle.

Days later, the service also arrested another suspected member of the arms trafficking network, Alhaji Adamu, also known as Gado Banufe, in Yauri, Kebbi State.

The DSS said the arrests followed intelligence-led operations that uncovered a network allegedly responsible for supplying weapons to armed groups operating across parts of northern Nigeria.