The Department of State Services (DSS) has thwarted a major cross-border gun-running syndicate, intercepting a large consignment of weapons smuggled into Nigeria from the Niger Republic.
Operatives acting on credible intelligence intercepted the illicit cargo at Dawakawa in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State. The recovered cache of arms included 21 AK-47 rifles, four PKT machine guns, and 825 live magazines to be delivered to suspected terror cells.
Security sources disclosed that increased surveillance and checkpoints have forced criminal elements to adopt alternative logistics, relying heavily on women and camels to move weapons.
Earlier in the week, DSS operatives apprehended a suspected female arms courier, Hafsat Umar, in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Umar was intercepted in transit and found in possession of 12 grenades and two ammunition belts.
According to reports, she travelled to Niger State to source the explosives for a suspected bandit leader, Saidu Marafa, who operates out of Kani Kawa in Zamfara State.
She is the 14th female arms courier apprehended by the secret police between February 2025 and November 2026. These intelligence-led operations have spanned Zamfara, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Taraba, Kaduna, and Plateau states.
Recent incidents include the September 2026 arrest of Chika Aguzie and Blessing Nwamba in Ebonyi State. The two were caught supplying 14 wraps of improvised explosive device (IED) detonators to Eastern Security Network (ESN) commanders based in Anambra State.
Other notable arrests involve Aisha Mohammed, caught last month in Nasarawa State with 202 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, and Rabiatu Halidu, apprehended with 501 rounds in August.
Earlier in the year, operatives intercepted Sakina Muhammad and Badariyya Abubakar in Taraba State with an AK-47 rifle, 105 rounds of GPMG ammunition, and 984 rounds of special ammunition.
The DSS has successfully prosecuted several female couriers to disrupt the terror supply chain. A Federal High Court in Abuja recently sentenced three women, Halima Abdullahi, Safiya Salihu, and Halima Umar, to 20 years in prison each on terrorism-related charges.
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