Federal government will on Thursday arraign two top commanders of the Ansaru terrorist sect, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Gatekeepers News reports that the defendants are Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, described as the self-acclaimed Emir of Ansaru, and Mahmud al-Nigeri, also called Malam Mamuda, his deputy and chief of staff. They will appear before Justice Emeka Nwite on a 32-count terrorism-related charge.
Court filings marked FHC/ABJ/CR/464/2025, dated September 4, were prepared by M.B. Abubakar, director of public prosecutions, on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).
According to authorities; the men, recently apprehended in security operations, are accused of leading a terrorist network, financing its activities, recruiting fighters, and coordinating deadly assaults in Nigeria.
Ansaru was linked to the July 2022 Kuje prison attack, where more than 600 inmates, including 64 Boko Haram suspects, escaped. National security adviser Nuhu Ribadu described the duo as key masterminds of the jailbreak.
Investigators revealed that Abu Bara was the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to fund terrorism.
His deputy, Mamuda, reportedly trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, specialising in weapons and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
NSA further disclosed that the suspects were also linked to the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Uba (Magajin Garin Daura), and the abduction of the Emir of Wawa.
Ribadu described their capture as a turning point, adding that the commanders maintain operational networks across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
