—Who: Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS), the domestic intelligence agency
—What: 21 AK-47 assault rifles, 4 PKT (belt-fed) machine guns and 825 magazines reported seized
—Where: Dawakawa, Goronyo district, Sokoto State, in Nigeria’s north-west
—Status: Attributed to unnamed security sources; no named DSS statement found
Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency is reported to have stopped a weapons shipment from neighbouring Niger Republic in Sokoto State.
What Is Reported
Nigerian media reported on Wednesday 11 November 2026 that the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency, intercepted a weapons shipment smuggled in from Niger Republic, the country to Nigeria’s north. The haul was 21 AK-47 assault rifles, four PKT machine guns (belt-fed weapons) and 825 magazines, taken at Dawakawa in Goronyo, a Local Government Area (district) of Sokoto State.
The reports cite unnamed security sources, and reports put the seizure on Tuesday 10 November. One security source said arms gangs now use women and camels to move weapons.
Nigerian Army soldiers during a live-fire exercise in Thiès, Senegal, on 17 February 2020. File photo. Photo: Sean Castellano, US Navy / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).A Related Arrest
One report adds that DSS agents arrested a suspected female arms courier earlier in the week in Talata Mafara, a town in Zamfara State in north-western Nigeria, with 12 grenades and two ammunition belts. The report calls her the 14th female courier arrested since February 2025.
What Is Not Known
We found no named DSS statement confirming the seizure, so the details are reported and not confirmed. It is not known who owned the weapons, and the reports we read do not say anyone was arrested at Dawakawa.
More: Nigeria news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the DSS reportedly seize in Sokoto?
Nigerian media say 21 AK-47 assault rifles, four PKT machine guns and 825 magazines, brought in from Niger Republic. We found no named DSS statement confirming it.
What is the DSS?
The Department of State Services is Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency. In these reports it is the agency said to have made the seizure.
Nigerian media reports of 11 November 2026, citing unnamed security sources; no named Department of State Services statement found as of 12 November 2026.
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