2025 Papiri School AAbduction: DSS Arrests Two Foreigners, Three Others In Major Breakthrough

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The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested five persons, including two Nigerien nationals, for their role as arms couriers to the gunmen who attacked St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri community, Niger State, on November 21, 2025. Nearly 300 students and staff were abducted in the assault.

Recovered from the suspects are 15 AK‑103 rifles, 15 magazines, and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.

Those arrested by the DSS are Yusuf Mohammed (aka Bature), a wanted member of Boko Haram and his accomplice, Mubarak Ibrahim, who were arrested on the Zaria‑Kaduna Highway while on their way to collect a consignment of arms for their commanders.

Goni Ibrahim, an international arms courier from the Diffa Region of the Niger Republic, was arrested alongside his accomplice, Tukur Sani.

Alhaji Adamu (aka Gado Banufe) – an arms supplier around the Kebbi axis was arrested in Yauri, Kebbi State.

All five suspects were allegedly part of a syndicate supplying weapons to the gunmen who carried out the Papiri school attack. Dozens of gunmen on motorcycles had stormed the Catholic boarding school in the early hours of November 21, 2025, rounding up students and teachers at gunpoint.