Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested five suspected arms couriers, including two nationals of the Niger Republic, for supplying weapons to the gunmen who carried out the November 2025 mass abduction of nearly 300 students and staff from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State. The operation, which spanned several states and involved sustained intelligence‑led surveillance, also led to the recovery of 15 AK‑103 rifles, 15 magazines and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition. The arrests, which occurred between late May and early June 2026, have been described by security sources as a major breakthrough in unravelling the logistics network behind one of the country’s worst school abductions in recent years.
The series of arrests began when operatives of the service intercepted Yusuf Mohammed, also known as Bature, a listed member of the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal‑Jihad (JAS), commonly called Boko Haram. He was apprehended alongside his associate, Mubarak Ibrahim, on the Zaria‑Kaduna highway. According to sources familiar with the operation, the two men were on their way to collect a consignment of weapons intended for their commanders when they were flagged down by security personnel. A follow‑up intelligence‑led operation led to the arrest of Goni Ibrahim, described as an international arms courier operating from the Diffa Region of the Niger Republic. Ibrahim was arrested alongside his alleged accomplice, Tukur Sani, as they travelled in an unnamed blue vehicle. Concealed inside that vehicle, operatives discovered 15 AK‑103 assault rifles, 15 magazines and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition. Days later, the DSS extended its dragnet to Yauri, Kebbi State, where a fifth suspect, Alhaji Adamu, also known as Gado Banufe, was arrested. Adamu was said to be actively involved in supplying arms across the Kebbi axis.
Preliminary investigations have established that all five men served as arms couriers and logistics facilitators for the armed group that attacked St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area, in the early hours of 21 November 2025. Dozens of heavily armed gunmen on motorcycles had stormed the Catholic primary and secondary boarding school, overwhelming the small number of guards on duty. While about 50 students managed to escape in the initial chaos, more than 250 others – including children as young as six years old – were rounded up at gunpoint and marched for days into the dense Kainji Lake National Park forest reserve, where they were held in makeshift camps. The abduction triggered nationwide outrage, with the attackers later identified as belonging to the Sadiku‑led Boko Haram faction, which had already been linked to repeated attacks on communities around the Kainji axis.
After weeks of negotiations and operations, the final group of 130 captives was released on 21 December 2025, bringing the total number of rescued victims to 230. The federal and Niger State governments confirmed at the time that not a single pupil remained in captivity. However, the question of who supplied the weapons used by the kidnappers had remained a missing piece of the puzzle until the DSS’s latest operation. The recovered rifles, magazines and ammunition – all of which are of military grade – are now being subjected to ballistic and forensic analysis to determine their origin and the broader trafficking routes that enabled them to reach the terrorists.
The DSS has not publicly commented on whether any of the suspects are cooperating with investigators, but sources within the service confirmed that efforts are ongoing to track down additional members of the syndicate, including those involved in procuring, transporting and distributing weapons to criminal organisations across the North‑West and North‑Central regions. The service has also reaffirmed its commitment to disrupting arms trafficking networks and strengthening collaboration with other security agencies to combat kidnapping, banditry and related threats to national security.
The arrests have drawn praise from civil society groups and religious leaders, particularly within the Christian community, which has borne the brunt of attacks in the Middle Belt. The Country Director of the Global Peace Foundation Nigeria and Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 northern states and the FCT, Rev. John Joseph Hayab, described the development as a positive step that should encourage citizens to acknowledge the successes of security forces even as they continue to demand improvements.
As of Tuesday, 2 June 2026, the DSS had not issued an official statement on the arrests, and no court date had been set for the arraignment of the suspects. However, security analysts believe the dismantling of this arms supply chain could significantly weaken the capacity of terrorist cells operating around the Kainji Lake basin. For the parents of the children who were marched into the forest nearly a year ago, the arrests bring a measure of closure – a sign that, however belatedly, the men who armed their children’s captors are finally being held to account.
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