The Department of State Services has arrested three additional suspects allegedly connected to the kidnapping of the Dean of Agriculture at Nasarawa State University, Professor Samuel Avengbe Okunsebor.
The suspects were reportedly apprehended on Friday night at a brothel in the Mararraban Akunza area, along the Lafia-Makurdi highway.
Their arrest follows the rescue of Okunsebor by DSS operatives, two days after he was abducted by gunmen on July 15, 2026.
The university don was kidnapped in the early hours of the day at Mile Uku, a border community between Lafia and Nasarawa-Eggon Local Government Areas of Nasarawa State.
Two other suspects, including a woman, were arrested during the operation that led to the professor’s rescue.
A security source involved in the investigation identified the latest suspects as 25-year-old Yakubu Abubakar, also known as Black or Starboy; 37-year-old Usman Abubakar Mairiga; and 27-year-old Sale Babauro Abubakar.
The source said, “The suspects were identified as 25-year-old Yakubu Abubakar, also known as Black/Starboy, of the Doemak tribe in Plateau State; 37-year-old Usman Abubakar Mairiga, and 27-year-old Sale Babauro Abubakar.”
The source further disclosed that Mairiga is Hausa, while Sale Babauro Abubakar is Fulani.
The three suspects have reportedly been transferred to the custody of the state command for further investigation.
“They are in the custody of the state command for further investigations,” the source said, adding that their detention was authorised by “a valid detention warrant from a magistrate’s court.”
With the latest arrests, the number of suspects apprehended in connection with the kidnapping has risen to five.
However, the identities of the two suspects arrested during the rescue of the university dean have not been made public.
Okunsebor was abducted on July 15 while at Mile Uku, an area located between Lafia and Nasarawa-Eggon. DSS operatives rescued him two days later.
The latest arrests form part of ongoing efforts by security agencies to identify and prosecute those involved in the kidnapping.
The DSS has continued to intensify operations against kidnapping networks across the country, with previous investigations also leading to arrests of suspects linked to high-profile abductions.
