The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested five suspects linked to the attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri village, Niger State.
Last November, gunmen abducted 315 people, including 303 students and 12 teachers, from the school.
Fifty pupils escaped within 24 hours, while the remaining abductees were released over the following weeks.
According to Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency reporting platform, the persons arrested include a wanted Boko Haram member and two Nigerien nationals suspected of supplying arms to the gunmen responsible for the attack.
“Recovered from the men were a large cache of arms, including 15 AK rifles and 1,434 rounds of live ammunition,” Makama said.
“According to credible security sources, one Yusuf Mohammed aka Bature, who is on the list of wanted members of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad aka Boko Haram terror organization and his accomplice, Mubarak Ibrahim were arrested on the Zaria–Kaduna Highway while on their way to collect an arms consignment for their commanders.”
The publication reported that a follow-up operation led to the arrest of Goni Ibrahim, an international arms courier from the Diffa region of Niger Republic. Ibrahim was arrested alongside Tukur Sani, who was identified as his accomplice.
Security sources told Makama that concealed inside an unnamed blue vehicle used by the suspects were 15 AK-103 rifles, 15 magazines, and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.
“Days after the arrests, another member of the arms courier syndicate, identified as Alhaji Adamu aka Gado Banufe, known to be supplying arms in the Kebbi area, was arrested in Yauri, Kebbi State,” Makama said.
“The security sources disclosed that preliminary investigations established that the five men served as arms couriers to the gunmen who carried out the November 2025 attacks on the Catholic boarding school in Papiri.”
