Community leaders in Katsina and Nasarawa States have commended the Department of State Services (DSS) for arresting an alleged arms trafficking kingpin and disrupting a network supplying weapons to terrorists in the two states and other parts of the North.
The leaders, who spoke separately to newsmen, said the kingpin was arrested on Tuesday by DSS operatives in Magabar Jibia, Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State.
They identified him as a 28-year-old native of Mashema Village in Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, adding that his arrest had helped uncover an arms trafficking network stretching across several northern states.
“We are very relieved and thankful to the DSS for arresting Mubarak. Many villagers are aware of the terror his men have been unleashing on us over the years. We are however thankful that the Almighty Allah has used the DSS to bring their reign of terror to an end,” a community leader in Jibia LGA said through an interpreter.
Meanwhile, a community leader from an area near Keffi, Nasarawa State, commended the DSS for the arrest of an alleged arms courier, Ismail Lawalli, on Sunday evening along the Keffi-Abuja Highway.
The community leader, a retired security agent, said Lawalli, also a native of Mashema Village, was arrested with 1,099 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 57 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition and 106 rounds of General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) ammunition.
According to him, the suspect admitted conveying the ammunition to Mubarak, who allegedly paid for the haulage. The information reportedly helped DSS operatives track and arrest the alleged kingpin in Katsina State.
He further disclosed that Mubarak’s elder brother, Mustapha Abubakar, was arrested earlier this year in Gusau, the Zamfara State capital, over alleged arms trafficking.
“Mustapha Abubakar was arrested by DSS operatives earlier this year at Gusau, with one AK-47 rifle and 20 rounds of ammunition.
“The suspects are currently in custody of the DSS for further investigation. Like in similar instances, they will be prosecuted by the Agency,” the community leader said, commending the DSS for its operational successes.
He also praised the agency for its efforts to disrupt illicit arms supply networks and other activities contributing to insecurity across the country.
“I commend the DSS for being unrelenting in its resolve to track and dismantle illicit arms supply networks, and other actors who fuel insecurity across the country. We hope that with the combined efforts of other security agencies, insecurity would soon be a thing of the past,” he declared.
The post Community Leaders Hail DSS Over Arrest Of Arms Kingpin In Katsina, Nasarawa appeared first on Channels Television.