DSS Raids Private Warehouse, Recovers Donated Relief Materials

Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have recovered relief materials allegedly diverted from government custody during a raid on a private warehouse in Sintali Ward, Jalingo Local Government Area of Taraba State, arresting four suspects in the process.

The operation was reportedly carried out following intelligence from residents who alerted security authorities to suspicious late-night movement of relief supplies from government storage facilities to a privately owned warehouse.

Security sources said the recovered items, comprising foodstuffs and other humanitarian supplies valued at millions of naira, 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 victims affected by disasters across the state.

Among those arrested were the owner of the warehouse and three rice traders said to be linked to the recovered materials.

Following the raid, the relief items were moved to the DSS office in Jalingo as investigators commenced efforts to determine how the supplies ended up in the warehouse.

Investigators are said to be examining whether the materials were unlawfully diverted from official custody or were temporarily kept at the location for legitimate administrative reasons.

Neither the DSS nor the Taraba State Emergency Management Agency had issued an official statement on the incident as of the time of filing this report.

The development was first reported by counter-insurgency and security analyst Zagazola Makama, who said investigations were ongoing to establish the circumstances surrounding the suspected diversion of the relief materials.