Kaduna state governor, Senator Uba Sani, has praised President Bola Tinubu for appointing Mr. Oluwatosin Ajayi as Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), saying the appointment has helped reposition the agency to tackle the country’s security challenges.

The commendation was coming as the Kaduna State Command of the DSS carried out 34 successful operations in the state, leading to the arrest of 54 suspects, including serving security operatives, and recovery of a large cache of arms and ammunitions.

Governor Sani, who spoke through the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Sule Shuaibu, SAN, expressed delight with the successes recorded, noting that the DSS operatives had in addition to the arrests, recovered scores of rifles, pump action guns and several thousand rounds of ammunition within the first quarter of 2025.

The justice commissioner, who spoke to journalists shortly after his visit to the DSS command headquarters in Kaduna, also commended the Service under the leadership of Mr Ajayi for its synergy and close collaborations with other security agencies.

He disclosed that, those arrested by the DSS Operatives within the period under review were; eight suspected bandits and 22 of their suspected informants, four gunrunners, two human traffickers, four cyber fraudsters, two vandals and 12 family members of suspected bandits.

“The arms and ammunitions recovered include; five AK-47 rifles, one GPMG, three RPGs guns and 5,000 rounds of ammunitions of various calibres, while 79 kidnap victims (now in the custody of the state government) were rescued by the DSS operatives.”

Blueprint correspondent gathered that, of the arrested suspects, included a security operative serving in Zamfara State, who disclosed that he often steals the ammunition meant to fight bandits in Zamfara and environs and sell same to the bandits.

As at the time of his arrest, the serving security personnel had on him 217 rounds of assorted ammunition he planned to sell for N4 million.

One of the suspected gunrunners, according to a security source, revealed that he was arrested with 500 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition he planned to sell for N1.5 million to one Suleiman in troubled Birnin Gwari area of Kaduna State.

Another confessed that he was on his way to Katsina state to deliver 1,087 rounds of ammunition when DSS operatives nabbed him. His associate, who was arrested in Funtua, Katsina state, said he was to deliver 701 rounds of ammunition to Zamfara state.

Similarly, in Delta state, DSS operatives have recovered over 50 AK-47 rifles, six pump-action shotguns, and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition during a covert operation in Asaba, the state capital.

The Agency arrested a native serving in the British Army (name withheld) who allegedly procured the weapons.

The seizure and arrest have drawn commendations from Ijaw communities in Egbema, Gbaramatu, Isaba, and Ogbe-Ijoh kingdoms in the Warri Federal Constituency, who appealed to the Presidency to investigate the arms seizure. They warned that such stockpiles could lead to provocation and reignite conflict in Warri.