DSS Operatives
By PAUL ADAJI, Abuja –
The improved security witnessed at Yuletide in parts of the country was as a result of several covet operations carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS), to checkmate the violent activities of bandits and other criminal elements, security sources intimated NATIONAL ACCORD on Thursday.
According to the sources, the operations by the DSS led to the neutralization of Eastern Security Network (ESN) members in South-East and bandits in North-Central state of Niger, among others.
Giving further insights into the development, one of the sources told NATIONAL ACCORD that one of the major operatives launched by the secret police was on December 30, 2024 against armed bandits in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State.
During the operation, a good number of the bandits, who had invaded Rafi LGA on motorcycles, wielding AK-47 machine guns, terrorizing and looting shops, were neutralized by DSS operatives. The bandits’ cache of weapons and motorcycles were also seized.
It was learnt that this was the second time in less than a week that the DSS was launching a major offensive against bandits terrorizing residents of Niger state. The first was on December 27, 2024 when three bandits were killed in Dogon Dawa in Mairiga LGA of the state.
Only three weeks ago, DSS operatives apprehended notorious bandits terrorizing parts of the North-East and North-West, particularly in the Janyau Fulani Area in Gusau, Gusau-Kaura Namoda Road, in Zamfara State, as well as in Dalori quarters, Maiduguri, Borno State.
As gathered, the bandits in Niger State, who recently attacked Uregi village in Rafi LGA, had gathered for a meeting, oblivious of the fact that DSS operatives had kept them under surveillance. It was during the meeting that the operatives launched the attack.
A source familiar with the development hinted our correspondent that during the attack, three DSS operatives sustained injuries though they were said to be responding to treatment in an undisclosed medical facility.
Analyzing the security situation during the Yuletide, one of our source, who is a security expert, noted that the new leadership at the DSS headquarters must be commended for adopting what he called “increased synergy,” pointing out that the security situation across the country had remarkably improved as a result of prompt intelligence-sharing with the military and other security agencies.
He said: “For instance, it might interest to note that before Christmas, the DSS identified several IPOB (Indigenous People’s of Biafra) and their ESN camps in several parts of the southeast states.
“Collaborating with the DSS, we surgically dealt with IPOB and ESN leaders who were terrorizing residents of the Southeast. With the DSS, we were able to clear IPOB/ESN strongholds in Orsu, Oru East, Oru West and Orlu LGA in Imo State where several AK47 weapons and IED making materials and shrines were destroyed.”
He added that iIn Enugu, the DSS led the operation to clear the Imilike Agu forest in Udenu LGA where several weapons of different calibres were destroyed, and a large number of IPOB /ESN commanders neutralized.
According to him, several of such operations also took place in Abia, Anambra and Ebonyi States.
“That was why people in the southeast were, for the first time in several years, able to celebrate Yuletide in peace,” he stressed.
