DSS raids Taraba warehouse, recovers donated relief supplies, arrests four

Department of State Services (DSS) operatives conducted a raid on a private warehouse located in Sintali Ward, Jalingo Local Government Area of Taraba State. The operation resulted in the recovery of relief materials that had been donated for disaster victims and the arrest of four suspects.

The incident was announced on Sunday through a post on X by Zagazola Makama, a security and counter‑insurgency expert focused on the Lake Chad region.

Makama, citing security sources, explained that the raid was based on intelligence supplied by residents who had observed suspicious nighttime movements of relief goods from government storage facilities to the private warehouse.

During the raid, DSS operatives seized food items and other relief materials valued at millions of naira. These items were 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 disaster victims.

Four individuals were arrested in connection with the case, including the warehouse owner and three rice traders.

The recovered goods were subsequently transported to the DSS office in Jalingo for further investigation.

Makama added that investigators were assessing whether the relief materials had been illicitly diverted from official custody or were being temporarily stored at the warehouse for legitimate purposes.

At the time of filing this report, the Taraba State Emergency Management Agency had not yet commented on the development, and the DSS had not released an official statement regarding the operation.