The State Security Services (SSS) has reportedly arrested five suspected arms couriers, including two foreign nationals from neighbouring Niger, over their alleged links to the Boko Haram faction responsible for the mass abduction of students from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the Sadiku-led Boko Haram fighters abducted 315 students and staff from their dormitories in the sleepy town in November 2025.
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The Boko Haram cell was also responsible for the recent abduction of more than 40 students and teachers from three schools in Oyo State.
An SSS insider told this newspaper that the suspects were apprehended during coordinated intelligence-led operations that led to the recovery of 15 AK-103 rifles, 15 magazines and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.
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The source, who shared the mugshots of the suspects with our reporter, identified two of them as Yusuf Mohammed, also known as Bature, who was described as a wanted member of Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, popularly known as Boko Haram, and his associate, Mubarak Ibrahim.
The source said both men were intercepted along the Zaria-Kaduna highway while travelling to collect a consignment of weapons intended for insurgent commanders operating in the North-west and North-central regions.
According to the source, subsequent operations led SSS operatives to Goni Ibrahim, an alleged international arms courier from the Diffa Region of Niger, and his associate, Tukur Sani.
Security operatives reportedly discovered the cache of weapons concealed inside a blue vehicle being used by the suspects.
“The operatives recovered 15 AK-103 rifles, 15 magazines and 1,434 rounds of live ammunition hidden in the vehicle,” the source said.
Days later, another suspect, identified as Alhaji Adamu, also known as Gado Banufe, was arrested in Yauri, Kebbi State. The source described him as a prominent arms supplier allegedly operating across parts of Kebbi and neighbouring states.
Preliminary investigations, according to the source, indicate that the five suspects functioned as arms couriers and logistics facilitators for the armed group that carried out the attack on the Catholic boarding school in Papiri.
The source added that investigators are working to uncover the broader network that supplied weapons and support to the attackers.
The Papiri Abduction
In the early hours of 21 November 2025, dozens of heavily armed gunmen riding motorcycles stormed St. Mary’s Catholic primary and secondary boarding school in Papiri, Agwara Local Government Area of Niger State, and abducted more than 300 students and staff members.
While dozens of pupils escaped during the attack, hundreds were marched into the forests surrounding the Kainji Lake National Park.
An investigation by PREMIUM TIMES and The New Humanitarian found that the Kainji Lake forest corridor had become a major sanctuary for jihadist and armed groups operating across Niger, Kebbi and Kwara states.
Locals and analysts interviewed by this newspaper identified two extremist factions active in the area: Ansaru, an al-Qaeda-linked splinter group of Boko Haram, and a Boko Haram franchise led by commander Abubakar Saidu, widely known as Mallam Sadiku.
The report found that Mr Sadiku’s network was the most likely group behind the Papiri attack.
The report also detailed how the abductors moved the captives through several communities before reaching forest camps around the Kainji reserve without encountering security forces. Some of the released students told this reporter that members of the group identified themselves as Boko Haram fighters.
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The mass kidnapping drew international attention and intensified scrutiny of Nigeria’s worsening rural security crisis. After weeks in captivity, about 100 of the abducted pupils were released, with federal and Niger State authorities announcing on 21 December 2025, that the remaining captives had regained their freedom and that no student remained in captivity.
The SSS insider said the latest arrests represent a significant breakthrough in efforts to identify and dismantle the supply chains that armed and sustained the terrorists behind the Papiri abduction. Investigations, the source added, are ongoing.
