DSS arrests three more suspects over Nasarawa varsity professor’s abduction

The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested three more suspected members of the kidnapping gang linked to the abduction of Professor Samuel Avengbe Okunsebor, Dean of Agriculture at Nasarawa State University.

The suspects were reportedly arrested on Friday night at a local brothel around Mararraban Akunza, along the Lafia–Makurdi highway, according to a security source.

The development comes days after DSS operatives rescued Okunsebor, who was abducted by gunmen in the early hours of Wednesday, July 15, 2026, at Mile Uku, a border community between Lafia and Nasarawa-Eggon Local Government Areas.

Two suspects, including a woman, had earlier been arrested in connection with the abduction.

The latest arrests bring the number of suspects apprehended in connection with the case to five.

The security source identified the newly arrested suspects as 25-year-old Yakubu Abubakar, also known as Black/Starboy; 37-year-old Usman Abubakar Mairiga; and 27-year-old Sale Babauro Abubakar.

The source said Abubakar is from the Doemak tribe in Plateau State, while Mairiga and Sale are Hausa and Fulani respectively.

The three suspects are currently in the custody of the DSS State Command for further investigation, the source said.

According to the source, their continued detention was authorised by a valid warrant issued by a magistrate’s court as investigators work to establish their alleged roles in the kidnapping operation.

The DSS had rescued Okunsebor two days after his abduction, while efforts to apprehend other members of the alleged kidnapping network are ongoing.