The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested three additional suspects over the abduction of Professor Samuel Avengbe Okunsebor, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
The suspects were arrested on Friday night, August 7, 2026, at a local brothel in Mararaban Akunza, along the Lafia-Makurdi highway, a security source said.
They were identified as 25-year-old Yakubu Abubakar, alias Black or Starboy; 37-year-old Usman Abubakar Mairiga; and 27-year-old Sale Babauro Abubakar.
The arrests followed Okunsebor’s rescue by DSS operatives on Friday, July 17, two days after gunmen abducted him at Mile Uku, a border community between Lafia and Nasarawa-Eggon Local Government Areas.
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He was rescued at about 3pm, while a man and a woman were arrested during the operation, bringing the number of suspects reportedly detained over the incident to five.
The three latest suspects are being held at the DSS command in Nasarawa State under a detention warrant obtained from a magistrate’s court, pending further investigation.
The case comes amid a recent spate of abductions involving members of the university community. In May, six engineering students and another person were kidnapped from an off-campus lodge in Gudi, Akwanga Local Government Area. The students were later rescued, while two suspected kidnappers were arrested.
Investigators are expected to establish the alleged roles of the latest suspects and determine whether other persons linked to the professor’s abduction remain at large.