An officer of the Department of State Services in Plateau State, Barrister Muktar Modibbo, has died after armed gunmen in a gunrunning ring opened fire on him and other officers during an operation.
A top security source within the DSS told newsmen on Thursday that the incident occurred during a raid on the criminals’ hideout in Shendam Local Government Area of the state.
The gunrunners, who supply illicit weapons to sinister groups that perpetuate violence within the state, were initially traced to Qu’anpan Local Government Area by the secret police but the operation was aborted after it was discovered that intel had leaked to the gunrunners, who then swiftly changed location.
The security source said after receiving new intelligence that the arms smugglers were in Shendam, a team was constituted to burst their operation.
The operation was, however, met with heavy shooting from the criminals, who were well equipped with sophisticated firearms and seemed to have had prior intel about the raid.
The resulting gunfire led to the death of Modibbo, who also worked with the legal department of the security outfit.
“They (gunrunners) also took his weapon, a Galil Automatic Rifle, and a few other things,” the source added.
