Two senior commanders of the proscribed terrorist group Ansaru have pleaded guilty to a 32-count charge bordering on terrorism and kidnapping before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The defendants, identified as Mammuda and Abu Baraa, were arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) in September 2025 over their alleged roles in a series of terrorist attacks and high-profile kidnappings across Nigeria.
According to the charges, the suspects admitted to offences linked to terrorism, including attacks on security formations, kidnappings, and receiving specialised terrorist training in weapons handling, war tactics, and the fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The DSS alleged that the two commanders were behind the July 2022 attack on the Nigerian Correctional Service facility in Kuje, Abuja, which led to the escape of more than 600 inmates. They were also accused of masterminding the 2022 attack on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger State, which resulted in heavy casualties.
Investigators further alleged that the suspects planned an attack on the Niger uranium facility and were involved in several kidnappings, including the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp and the 2019 kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, the Magajin Garin Daura. They also face allegations of carrying out armed robberies to finance terrorist operations.
Security agencies said the pair received military training in terrorist camps, including in Mali, while Mammuda allegedly underwent advanced training in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria.
The arrest of the two men was announced in August 2025 by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, who described them as the leader and deputy leader of Ansaru.
Ribadu identified Abu Baraa, also known as Mahmud Muhammad Usman, as the group’s self-styled Emir and coordinator of several terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria, while Mammuda, also known as Mahmud al-Nigeri, was described as his deputy and leader of the “Mahmudawa” cell operating around the Kainji National Park in Niger and Kwara states and extending into the Benin Republic.
The NSA said both men had been on Nigeria’s most-wanted list for years and were responsible for multiple attacks on civilians, security personnel, and critical national infrastructure.
He also linked the suspects to the abduction of the Emir of Wawa and said they maintained operational ties with terrorist groups across the Maghreb region, particularly in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
According to Ribadu, their capture represented one of Nigeria’s most significant counterterrorism successes, describing it as the most decisive blow against Ansaru since the group’s emergence.
Ansaru emerged in January 2012 as a splinter faction of Boko Haram. Although it initially portrayed itself as a more moderate alternative, authorities say the group later became involved in attacks on security agencies, civilians, and government facilities while maintaining ideological and operational links with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The case continues before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
