The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested five suspected arms couriers, including two foreign nationals, over their alleged involvement in supplying weapons used in the November 2025 mass abduction at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State.
According to a statement issued by the security agency, the suspects are believed to have provided arms and ammunition to the gunmen responsible for the attack, which resulted in the abduction of nearly 300 students and staff members.
The DSS disclosed that the operation commenced with the interception of three suspects along the Zaria-Kaduna Highway while they were allegedly on their way to receive a consignment of weapons.
Following the initial arrests, operatives carried out a follow-up raid that led to the apprehension of an international arms courier, identified as Goni Ibrahim from the Diffa Region of the Niger Republic, alongside his alleged accomplice, Tukur Sani.
Security operatives reportedly recovered a cache of weapons from the suspects’ vehicle, including 15 AK-103 rifles, 15 magazines, and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition concealed within the automobile.
The DSS further revealed that another suspected member of the arms supply network, Alhaji Adamu, popularly known as Gado Banufe, was arrested days later in Yauri, Kebbi State.
Investigations by the agency indicate that the suspects played key roles in supplying weapons to the criminal gang behind the Papiri school attack, described as one of the most notorious mass kidnappings in Nigeria in recent years.
The attack occurred on November 21, 2025, when heavily armed gunmen stormed St. Mary’s Catholic School, a boarding institution in Papiri, Niger State. Although some students and staff reportedly escaped during the invasion, more than 250 victims were taken by the attackers into the Kainji Lake Reserve forest.
The DSS said investigations are ongoing as efforts continue to dismantle the wider network of arms suppliers and criminal elements connected to the kidnapping operation.