The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested five persons, including two Nigeriens, suspected to be arms couriers to gunmen who, on November 21, 2025, attacked St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri village, Niger State, abducting nearly 300 students and staff.
The DSS also recovered a large cache of arms, including 15 AK rifles and 1434 rounds of live ammunition.
According to credible security sources, 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 organisation and his accomplice, Mubarak Ibrahim, were arrested on Zaria-Kaduna Highway while on their way to collect a consignment of arms for their commanders.
The sources further noted that a follow-up operation led to the arrest of Goni Ibrahim, an international arms courier from Diffa Region, Niger Republic and Tukur Sani, who was identified as his accomplice.
The security sources disclosed that “concealed in an unnamed blue car the arrested men were travelling in were 15 AK 103 rifles, 15 magazines and 1,434 rounds of 7.62 mm 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 around the Kebbi axis, was arrested in Yauri, Kebbi State.”
The sources added 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.
Recall that dozens of gunmen on motorcycles had in the wee hours of November 21, 2025, stormed the Catholic Primary and Secondary Boarding School, rounding up students and teachers at gunpoint.
While about 50 of the children managed to escape in the chaos that greeted the attack, over 250 others were marched for days into the Kainji Lake Reserve Forest.
On December 21, 2025, the federal government and Niger state officials confirmed the rescue and safe return of the remaining 130 captives, with government officials confirming that not a single pupil remained in captivity.
Meanwhile, the Northern Christian Association (NCA) has commended the Department of State Services led by its director general, (DG) Mr. Oluwatosin Ajayi for the arrest of five suspects allegedly linked to the November 2025 abduction of students and staff of St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State.
In a statement issued yesterday, the chairman of the association, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, said people of good conscience should not only criticize government when it fails to meet expectations but should also acknowledge positive outcomes
