The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced two top commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to multiple terrorism-related offences.
Justice Emeka Nwite convicted Abubakar Abba, also known as Abu Baraa, and Mahmud Usman, also known as Mamuda, on a 32-count charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The offences included terrorism, financing of terrorist activities, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, and the production of improvised explosive devices.
The court also handed the convicts additional 20-year jail terms on other counts, with the sentences running from the date of their arrest.
The DSS said the duo were arrested in separate intelligence-led operations between May and July 2025 after being on Nigeria’s most-wanted list for years.
Prosecutors accused the pair of leading Ansaru’s operations, coordinating sleeper cells, and maintaining links with extremist groups in parts of West Africa.
The charges against them included alleged involvement in the 2022 attack on the Kuje Custodial Centre in Abuja, the Wawa Cantonment attack in Niger State, and several high-profile kidnappings.
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu described their arrest as a major counterterrorism breakthrough, saying it “dealt a decisive blow” to Ansaru’s leadership structure.
Ansaru, which emerged in 2012 as a splinter group of Boko Haram, has been linked to attacks on security forces, government facilities, and civilians across northern Nigeria.
