DSS Arrests Five Suspected Arms Couriers Linked to Papiri School Kidnap, Recovers 15 AK-47 Rifles

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested five suspected members of an arms trafficking network linked to the November 2025 abduction of hundreds of students and staff from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State.

Among those arrested are two Nigerien nationals allegedly involved in cross-border arms smuggling operations supplying weapons to criminal gangs and terrorist elements operating in parts of northern Nigeria.

Security sources disclosed that the operation led to the recovery of a large cache of weapons, including 15 AK-103 rifles, 15 magazines and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.

According to the sources, the first arrests were made along the Zaria-Kaduna highway, where DSS operatives intercepted Yusuf Mohammed, also known as Bature, who is reportedly on the list of wanted members of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (Boko Haram), alongside his alleged accomplice, Mubarak Ibrahim.

The suspects were reportedly en route to receive a consignment of weapons intended for their commanders when they were apprehended.

The arrests subsequently led to a follow-up operation that resulted in the capture of Goni Ibrahim, described as an international arms courier from the Diffa Region of Niger Republic, and his alleged accomplice, Tukur Sani.

Security sources said the weapons were concealed inside a blue vehicle used by the suspects during their movement into Nigeria.

Investigators further traced the network to Kebbi State, where another suspect identified as Alhaji Adamu, popularly known as Gado Banufe, was arrested in Yauri. He is alleged to be a key supplier of arms to criminal groups operating within the Kebbi axis.

Preliminary investigations, according to the sources, indicate that the suspects served as arms couriers for the gunmen responsible for the attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri village on November 21, 2025.

The attack, one of the largest school abductions recorded in recent years, saw dozens of armed men on motorcycles invade the Catholic boarding school in the early hours of the day, abducting students and teachers at gunpoint.

Although scores of pupils reportedly escaped during the attack, more than 250 others were forced into the Kainji Lake National Park area, where they remained in captivity for several weeks.

The victims were eventually rescued and reunited with their families in December 2025 after coordinated security operations by federal authorities and the Niger State Government.

Security officials believe the latest arrests represent a major breakthrough in efforts to dismantle the logistics and supply networks that sustain kidnapping gangs and terrorist groups across the North-West and North-Central regions.

The DSS has yet to issue an official statement on the operation, but security sources described the arrests as a significant step in ongoing efforts to curb arms trafficking and bring those connected to major kidnapping incidents to justice.