Court gavel
Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced two senior Ansaru terrorist commanders, Abubakar Abba (Abu Baraa) and Mahmud Usman (Mamuda), to life imprisonment after they admitted to terrorism-related offences.
Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the judgment after convicting the pair on a 32-count charge brought by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.
The charges covered terrorism, terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining and the manufacture of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The court imposed life imprisonment on two counts and sentenced them to 20 years on the remaining counts, with those terms to run from the date of their arrest.
Prosecutors said the convicts were among the highest-ranking leaders of Ansaru, an extremist group linked to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The DSS arrested both men in separate intelligence-led operations between May and July 2025 after years on Nigeria’s list of most-wanted terror suspects.
The Federal Government accused them of coordinating sleeper cells across the country and maintaining ties with terrorist groups in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The prosecution also linked them to the 2022 Kuje prison attack, the assault on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment and several high-profile kidnappings carried out over the years.
Security agencies further alleged that the suspects received terrorist training abroad and planned attacks on strategic facilities, including a uranium site in Niger State.
The convictions are seen as a major victory in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and a significant setback for the leadership of the Ansaru extremist group.
