ABUJA — Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested six suspected bandits, including three women, shortly after their return from the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The arrests were made over the weekend at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, following intelligence-led surveillance.
A senior security source confirmed that the suspects had been on the DSS watchlist prior to their departure for the pilgrimage, but were allowed to proceed under close monitoring as part of a wider counterterrorism operation targeting syndicates involved in kidnapping, arms trafficking, and terror financing.
According to findings, the three male suspects are alleged to be directly linked to a network of bandits operating across parts of Kaduna, Zamfara, and Niger States, while the three women are believed to have acted as couriers and logistic facilitators, helping to launder ransom proceeds and supply non-combat support to armed groups in the North-West region.
“Security operatives intercepted the individuals moments after they arrived in Abuja from Saudi Arabia. Their movements had been tracked, and we acted based on credible intelligence pointing to their roles in financing and supporting banditry,” the source said.
Preliminary investigations reportedly revealed that some of the suspects had used the pilgrimage as a cover to evade arrest and facilitate foreign currency transactions. Authorities are also probing suspected links to illicit financial flows traced to local ransom payments made in the past six months.
The DSS is said to be collaborating with other security agencies to trace assets, decode financial records, and unravel a broader support system behind bandit operations in Nigeria. Interrogations are ongoing, and the suspects are expected to face prosecution upon the conclusion of investigations.
This arrest underscores Nigeria’s renewed commitment to dismantling terror networks and their financial enablers, even as the government continues to grapple with escalating insecurity in parts of the country.
