Gov Mbah lauds DSS, Army, others as he inspects arms cache seized from ESN terrorists

Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State on Friday commended the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Army, and the Nigeria Police for their commitment to securing Nigeria and the Southeast geopolitical zone in particular.

The Governor gave the commendation shortly after visiting the State’s DSS headquarters where he inspected a cache of arms and ammunition recovered on Tuesday from commanders of the outlawed Eastern Security Network (ESN) in the State.

During the raid on ESN armoury, DSS operatives, backed by troops of the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, recovered a large cache of high-calibre arms and ammunition.

Governor Mbah inspected some of the recovered weapons, including
a rocket launcher, two RPG (rocket propelled grenades) warheads, three RPG chargers, 11 AK-47 rifles, and over 610 rounds of NATO 7.62×39 mm ammunition, and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) uniforms and lanyards.

Accompanied by the Division’s Garrison Commander, Brig. Gen Abubakar Suru, State Commissioner of Police, Bitrus Giwa, and other government officials, Mbah praised the hard work and collaboration among security agencies in the country.

According to the governor, but for the diligence and intelligence of the DSS and sister security agencies, the recovered arms and ammunition would have been used by the ESN terrorists to wreck havoc across the South and paint a false picture that insecurity has taken over Nigeria.

Governor Mbah called on Nigerians to, irrespective of their political and religious affiliations, support efforts by President Bola Tinubu to tackle insecurity.

He thanked President Tinubu for supporting states to tackle insecurity, saying the President’s effort is the reason for the successes being recorded by security agencies across the states.

Security sources disclosed that the raid on the ESN armoury came on the heels of intelligence gathered from some arrested ESN members, that the terrorist organization was planning to unleash terror on Enugu and other Southeast States, and create panic and the false impression that bandits have invaded the region.

The Enugu recovery came two days before the Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced five members of a band of notorious bandits each to 25 years in prison for assisting the gunmen who, on November 21, 2025, attacked and abducted students and staff of St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State.
The five convicts were arrested by DSS operatives in separate operations last week.