Inside the DSS Operation That Averted War in Warri

…How Eight GPMGs, AK 47 Rifles, Grenades Were Captured
…Oborevwori: This is Madness, We Won’t Accept Bloodshed

By Yinka Giwa

The dramatic interception of a cache of military-grade weapons by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) has peeled back the layers of a dangerous plot threatening to engulf Warri Federal Constituency in ethnic conflict. What began as an intelligence-led operation in Asaba has now revealed a coordinated effort to destabilize Delta State under the guise of contesting political and ethnic boundaries.

At a security briefing in Asaba, the Deputy Director of Operations of the DSS Delta Command, Mr. Anthony Ifemeje, briefed Governor Sheriff Oborevwori on the October 12, 2025, operation that led to the arrest of a notorious arms trafficker, Stephen Sabo Atoshi, a 40-year-old secondary school teacher from Taraba State. Acting on intelligence, DSS operatives intercepted Atoshi’s vehicle within the Asaba metropolis, recovering seven General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs), several AK-47 rifles, five hand grenades, and other military-grade weapons concealed inside a car dashboard and within sacks of beans.

Ifemeje disclosed that Atoshi was part of a wider network smuggling arms from Sebha in southern Libya, through Chad, and into Nigeria via Geidam in Yobe State. During interrogation, the suspect confessed to having been in the illegal arms trade for over eight years and to supplying more than 55 firearms—including GPMGs and AK-47s—across various states. Some of these, he admitted, were intended for Warri, to “service clients preparing for an ethnic conflict.”

Governor Oborevwori, who cut short another engagement to personally inspect the cache, was visibly disturbed by the scale of the discovery. “You can see the kind of weapons they brought to Delta State. Is it not madness? Who do you want to kill in Delta State? You want to destabilize this government? We can’t take it from any ethnic nationality—never and never!” he declared.

The governor commended the DSS and sister security agencies for their “strategic intelligence and determination” in intercepting the arms, noting that the breakthrough underscored Delta’s zero-tolerance stance on violence. “Those who are planning to cause crisis should have a rethink. We want peace, not trouble. We are working tirelessly to open up Warri for investors and economic growth, but where there is violence, investors will stay away,” he said.

He ordered a comprehensive crackdown on criminal networks, particularly their financiers and political backers. “I have directed security agencies to go after the sponsors of these arms. We will not allow anyone or group to destabilize Delta State. Bringing in heavy arms and ammunition of this nature is unacceptable and a direct threat to our collective peace.”

This latest seizure comes months after a similar DSS operation in April 2025, when operatives intercepted 50 AK-47 rifles, six pump-action shotguns, and over 3,000 rounds of ammunition during a covert exchange in Asaba. That operation exposed an Itsekiri-born junior-rank officer discharged from the British Army, alleged to have procured the weapons on behalf of a shadowy financier known as “Collins.” The ex-soldier was arrested in Lagos while attempting to flee the country, revealing that foreign actors may have been drawn into the Warri delineation crisis.

The roots of the tension lie in the Supreme Court judgment of December 2022, which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to redraw the electoral wards in Warri North, Warri South, and Warri South-West to reflect the true demographics of the area’s three major ethnic groups—Itsekiri, Ijaw, and Urhobo. The new delineation, which gave the Ijaws a numerical edge in Warri North and South-West while balancing Urhobo representation in Warri South, triggered outrage among Itsekiri leaders.

While the Urhobo and Ijaw communities hailed the exercise as long-overdue justice, the Itsekiri Youth Elites (IYE) denounced it as marginalization. They had then accused the Urhobos of plotting to unseat Warri South Council Chairman, Agbateyiniro Weyinimi Isaac, and replace him with his Urhobo deputy, Kingsley Edafiadjebre. Shortly after, the Okere-Urhobo community was attacked by unknown assailants, deepening ethnic suspicion and prompting accusations that political actors were sponsoring violence to undermine the court-ordered delineation.

The crisis festered further as INEC faced allegations of halting the delineation process. But National Commissioner Sam Olumekun clarified that the exercise had “neither been suspended nor concluded,” assuring stakeholders that consultations were ongoing and urging all parties to maintain peace.

Governor Oborevwori, meanwhile, used the DSS breakthrough to reaffirm his administration’s unflinching commitment to peace and justice. He linked the arms trafficking to ongoing acts of violence in Warri, including the recent murder of Mr. Jerry Aduara, an indigene of Okere-Urhobo Kingdom, who was a two-time chairman of the Odion Urhobo Youth Council and a member of the Warri South Local Government Peace Committee.

“I have directed security agencies to arrest the person who shot and killed somebody in Warri,” Oborevwori stated. “They should look for that person and bring him to book, including those backing him. Nobody involved will go scot-free because this is Delta State, and we want peace.”

He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to sustaining peace and ensuring that no individual or group “takes the law into their own hands,” emphasizing Delta’s focus on unity, development, and security.

Observers note that with the DSS intercepting eight machine guns and several assault rifles most definitely meant for the “Warri Constituency War,” the scale of what was averted cannot be overstated. “Without the swift action of the security services, Delta could have descended into a devastating ethnic confrontation,” one official told KTH Daily.