DSS Arrests Five Suspects Linked to Catholic School Abduction in Niger

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested five suspects allegedly connected to the attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, where hundreds of pupils and teachers were abducted last year.

The arrests mark a significant breakthrough in ongoing investigations into one of the country’s most high-profile school abductions.

The attack occurred in November 2025 when armed men stormed the boarding school and abducted 315 persons, including 303 pupils and 12 teachers.

Although dozens of the victims escaped shortly after the incident and others were later released, security agencies continued efforts to identify and dismantle the network responsible.

According to security reports, those arrested include a suspected Boko Haram member and two foreign nationals believed to be involved in supplying weapons to the gunmen who carried out the attack.

Investigators said one of the suspects, Yusuf Mohammed, popularly known as Bature, was arrested alongside Mubarak Ibrahim on the Zaria-Kaduna highway while allegedly attempting to collect a shipment of weapons for terrorist commanders.

Further operations reportedly led security operatives to Goni Ibrahim, described as an international arms courier from the Diffa region of neighbouring Niger Republic.

Authorities said Ibrahim was arrested alongside an accomplice, Tukur Sani.

Security operatives reportedly recovered 15 AK-103 rifles, 15 magazines and 1,434 rounds of live ammunition concealed inside a vehicle used by the suspects.

Investigators subsequently arrested another suspect, Alhaji Adamu, popularly known as Gado Banufe, in Yauri, Kebbi State.

He is believed to have played a major role in supplying weapons to criminal groups operating in parts of northwestern Nigeria.

Preliminary investigations reportedly indicate that the suspects formed part of a wider arms trafficking network responsible for supplying weapons to the gunmen involved in the Papiri school attack.

Security agencies are expected to continue investigations aimed at identifying additional collaborators and dismantling the broader logistics chain supporting terrorist and kidnapping operations.

The arrests come amid growing efforts by security agencies to curb mass abductions targeting schools and vulnerable communities across the country.