Three months after the arraignment of suspects involved in the Yelwata and Plateau massacres, the Department of State Services (DSS) has recorded another breakthrough with the arrest of a suspected high-level arms supplier, Musa Abubakar.
Abubakar was apprehended on November 12, 2025, during a targeted operation in Mista Ali, Bassa Local Government Area, Plateau State. According to security sources, the arrest followed weeks of surveillance and credible intelligence that identified him as a significant manufacturer and distributor of weapons to armed groups operating in Plateau and neighbouring states.
“The suspect confessed to manufacturing and supplying high-caliber weapons and ammunition to armed groups responsible for violent attacks in Plateau and other northern regions,” a senior security source disclosed.
DSS operatives reportedly raided Abubakar’s workshop, where they recovered various Improvised Explosive Device (IED) components, chemicals, fabrication equipment, and other items used in arms production.
The arrest adds to a string of recent counterterrorism successes by the DSS, coming shortly after the re-arrest of Abdulazeez Obadaki, also known as Bomboy, a fugitive Kuje Prison escapee linked to the Owo and Deeper Life church attacks.
Security analysts say the latest operation demonstrates the agency’s intensified efforts to degrade arms networks fueling terrorism and communal violence in the North-Central region.
It will be recalled that the DSS had earlier arrested nine high-profile suspects connected to coordinated attacks in Plateau and Benue States, including 46-year-old Timna Manjol of First Baptist Church, Mangu LGA. Manjol has already pleaded guilty to two of the four counts filed against him, including illegal possession of firearms, in case number FHC/ABJ/CR/451/2025.
The DSS has reiterated its commitment to dismantling armed groups and curtailing the flow of illegal weapons across the country as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen internal security.
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