The Department of State Services (DSS) has announced the arrest of a man it described as “a major gun fabricator, arms-runner and a covert linkman/courier for the Boko Haram group.”

“On 2nd March, 2016, one Musa Garba ABUBAKAR (Engr) aka Muhadis Musa Bin HADDAD, was arrested at Jos, Plateau State, during a special tactical operation by the Service,” DSS said this afternoon in a statement issued in Abuja by its spokesman Tony Opuiyo.

The statement said: “During his arrest, 2 pistols, 80 rounds of live ammunition and several sensitive documents were recovered from him. In a bid to employ propaganda to manipulate the international community against the efforts of the Federal Government, in the ongoing war against terror in the North-West region, MUSA had approached a foreign mission in Nigeria for logistics and financial support to fight the Boko Haram. However, unknown to the mission, he is actually an unauthorised gun-maker/runner with intent for mischief and communal strife in the North Central region.

“In furtherance of exploited leads, this Service apprehended other suspected associates of the gun-runner, namely: Umar Khalil MUHAMMED and Mohammed Yakubu TAHIR aka Mallam YARO, on 2nd March, 2016. MUHAMMED was arrested at Layin Oscar in Jos South LGA, while TAHIR was picked up at Mista Ali area, along Jos-Zaria road in Bassa LGA. The duo are accomplices and active marketers of ABUBAKAR and his products to criminal elements in the North-Central region of the country.”

Opuiyo said that DSS “also arrested one Armaya’u YAKUBU aka Ali Tekwando, Yakubu SULE and Usman IBRAHIM on 3rd March, 2016, at Hayin Danmani area in Kaduna metropolis. The trio were members of an extremist cell under the coordination of YAKUBU, with affiliation to the proscribed extremist group, ANSARU and have been perfecting plans to travel to Sudan, for terrorist training with other radical elements of the group.”

“The Service wish to reemphasise its resolve to sustain the fight against organised vices and criminalities by terrorists, kidnappers, fraudsters and other deviant elements in the country. The Service also wish to urge law abiding Nigerians and indeed, all residents to continue to support law enforcement/security agencies, with proactive and actionable intelligence, for the sustenance of peace, law and order,” the statement concluded.