Include .so native file in an Android .aar file

I have a situation where I am building an android .aar file with android studio, and the java files reference some external native methods in the .so. However any effort I make to include the .so file in the aar file, whenever I do and try to use classes that reference the .so functions, my app crashes on load without error or any way for me to track what the issue is.

This is my gradle build file..

 apply plugin: 'com.android.library'

 def NATIVE_LIB_DIR = 'jniLibs/armeabi-v7a/'

 android {
 compileSdkVersion 25
 buildToolsVersion "25.0.2"

 sourceSets {
     main {
         jniLibs.srcDirs = ["jniLibs"]
     }
 }

 defaultConfig {
     minSdkVersion 23
     targetSdkVersion 25
     versionCode 1
     versionName "1.0"

     testInstrumentationRunner "android.support.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"

 }
 buildTypes {
     release {
         minifyEnabled false
         proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
     }
 }
 productFlavors {
     arm {
         ndk {
             abiFilters "armeabi-v7a", "armeabi"
         }
     }
 }
 }

 dependencies {
 provided fileTree(include: ['*.jar'], dir: 'libs')
 compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:25.3.0'
 }

 android.libraryVariants.all { variant ->

 // Task names.
 String variantName = "${variant.name.capitalize()}"; // Like 'Debug'
 String deployTaskGroup = "plugin";
 String deployTaskName = "deploy${variantName}PluginArchive"; // Like 'deployDebugPluginArchive'
 String dependencyTaskName = "assemble${variantName}"; // Like 'assembleDebug'

 // Source.
 String sourceAARFolder = "${buildDir.getPath()}/outputs/aar/";
 String sourceAARName = "${project.name}-${variant.name}.aar";

 // Target.
 String targetAssetFolder = "Assets/Plugins/Android";
 String targetAARFolder = "${rootDir.getPath()}/../${targetAssetFolder}"; // Navigate into 'Assets'
 String targetAARName = "SrvrRemote.aar"; // The form you ship your plugin

 // Create task.
 task(deployTaskName, dependsOn: dependencyTaskName, type: Copy) {
     logger.lifecycle("${variant.name.capitalize()} AAR Folder: ${sourceAARFolder}")
     logger.lifecycle("${variant.name.capitalize()} Target AAR Folder: ${targetAARFolder}")
     logger.lifecycle("${variant.name.capitalize()} Target AAR name: ${targetAARName}")

     from(sourceAARFolder)
     into(targetAARFolder)
     include(sourceAARName)
     rename(sourceAARName, targetAARName)
 }.group = deployTaskGroup;

}