The Department of State Services (DSS) has intercepted a massive cache of weapons and ammunition smuggled into Nigeria from the Niger Republic.
Operatives of the secret police seized the consignment—comprising 21 AK-47 rifles, four PKT machine guns, and 825 magazines—in Dawakawa, Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The operation followed sustained intelligence surveillance on terror cells plotting to infiltrate the country with weapons ahead of the polls.
According to a security source, intensified DSS crackdowns on illicit arms trafficking nationwide have forced terror networks to alter their smuggling tactics, increasingly relying on female couriers and beasts of burden, particularly camels, to evade detection. The source also revealed that the service has tracked a key field commander tasked with orchestrating violence before and during the elections.
The Sokoto interception follows a string of recent operational breakthroughs against gunrunning networks across the country. Earlier this week, DSS operatives in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State arrested a suspected female arms courier, Hafsat Umar, who was caught with 12 grenades and two ammunition belts.
Intelligence revealed that Umar had travelled to Niger State to procure the munitions for delivery to a notorious bandit kingpin, Saidu Marafa, operating out of Kani Kawa in Maradun LGA of Zamfara State.
Umar’s arrest brings the number of female illegal arms couriers apprehended by the DSS between February 2025 and November 2026 to 14, with operations spanning Zamfara, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Taraba, Kaduna, and Plateau States.
Among those recently apprehended was Aisha Mohammed, who was arrested last month in Keffi, Nasarawa State, while attempting to move 202 rounds of 7.62mm AK-47 ammunition and three empty magazines for a notorious arms dealer and kidnapper identified simply as Sani.
