DSS raids Taraba warehouse, recovers relief materials, arrests four suspects

Operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, have raided a private warehouse in Sintali Ward, Jalingo Local Government Area of Taraba State, recovering relief materials reportedly meant for disaster victims and arresting four suspects.

The operation was disclosed by security and counter-insurgency analyst Zagazola Makama in a post shared on X on Sunday.

According to Makama, who cited security sources, the raid followed intelligence provided by residents who reported suspicious nighttime movement of relief materials from government stores to a private warehouse.

During the operation, DSS operatives reportedly recovered food items and other relief materials worth millions of naira, believed to have been donated by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre to the Taraba State Emergency Management Agency, TSEMA, for distribution to victims of disasters.

Four suspects, including the owner of the warehouse and three rice traders, were arrested in connection with the discovery.

The recovered items were subsequently evacuated to the DSS office in Jalingo for further investigation.

According to the report, investigators are working to determine whether the relief materials were illegally diverted from official custody or were being temporarily stored at the warehouse for legitimate purposes.

As of the time of filing this report, the Taraba State Emergency Management Agency had not commented on the incident, while the DSS had yet to issue an official statement on the operation.