A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced two senior commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group to life imprisonment after they admitted to multiple terrorism-related offences, marking one of Nigeria’s most significant convictions against the extremist organisation in recent years.
Justice Emeka Nwite handed down the sentences after Abubakar Abba, popularly known as Abu Baraa, and Mahmud Usman, also called Mamuda, pleaded guilty to a 32-count charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.
The charges included terrorism, terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other offences linked to the activities of the al-Qaeda-affiliated group.
Justice Nwite sentenced both men to life imprisonment on counts 30 and 31, while imposing 20-year prison terms on the remaining counts. The court ruled that the additional prison terms would take effect from the date of their arrest.
According to prosecutors, the two convicts were among the highest-ranking leaders of Ansaru, an extremist group designated as a terrorist organisation by the Nigerian government and widely regarded as an affiliate of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The DSS told the court that the suspects were arrested in separate intelligence-led operations between May and July 2025 after spending years on Nigeria’s list of most-wanted terrorism suspects.
During their arraignment in September 2025, the Federal Government accused the pair of coordinating terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and maintaining operational links with extremist groups in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The prosecution further alleged that the defendants played major roles in several high-profile attacks, including the July 2022 attack on the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kuje, Abuja, where more than 600 inmates escaped, and the attack on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Niger State the same year.
Court documents also linked the convicts to the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina State, the 2019 kidnapping of the Magajin Garin Daura, Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, and several other kidnappings and armed robberies allegedly carried out to finance terrorist operations.
Investigators also accused the duo of planning attacks on a uranium facility in Niger State and receiving specialised training in weapons handling, combat tactics and the production of improvised explosive devices at terrorist camps in Mali and Libya.
Before their arrest, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) identified Abu Baraa as Ansaru’s leader, while Mamuda was described as the group’s deputy leader and chief of staff. National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu had described their capture as a major counterterrorism breakthrough that significantly weakened the group’s leadership network operating across northern Nigeria and parts of the Benin Republic.
Ansaru emerged in 2012 as a splinter faction of Boko Haram before aligning itself with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The group has been linked to numerous attacks on security personnel, government facilities and civilians, as well as several high-profile kidnappings across northern Nigeria.
