DSS probes source of herdsmen’s weapons

The Department of State Services (DSS) has started probing the source of weapons used by herdsmen to attack their victims, Punch reports.

A top security officer with the DSS told Punch that the recent call by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar, in which he advised the Federal Government to probe the sources of weapons used by herdsmen accused of attacking Nigerian communities, was just “a reminder.”

The source said information showed that some of the herdsmen migrated from other African countries into Nigeria.

He added that some of the herdsmen “came into the country with weapons they acquired from war-torn countries like Libya and Sudan.”

The source said, “We have been carrying out our investigation long before now. We have found out that some of these herdsmen are not actually from Nigeria.

“Some of them are from Niger Republic, Somalia and even from far countries like Sudan and Libya. They came into the country through the porous borders we have and also because of the free movement agreement among members of ECOWAS.

“We all know how many hundreds of guns have been seized at the ports. What about those that were not detected, especially those that were smuggled through the land borders?

“We are getting to the root of the matter. We are also getting to know that even terrorists get their guns almost from the same sources with the criminal herdsmen.”