A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced Mahmud Usman, a senior commander of the proscribed Ansaru sect, to 15 years in prison for his role in the 2022 Kuje prison attack.
Usman, known by his aliases Abu Bara’a, Abbas, or Mukhtar, pleaded guilty to charges of engaging in illegal mining and using the proceeds to procure arms for terrorism and kidnapping operations.
Presiding Judge Emeka Nwite ordered that Usman remain in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) while he faces trial on 31 additional counts. Usman, who referred to himself as the “Emir of Ansaru,” appeared in court alongside his deputy and chief of staff, Mahmud al-Nigeri, popularly called Malam Mamuda.
Both face a 32-count indictment alleging they led the terrorist organisation, financed its activities, recruited fighters, and orchestrated violent attacks across Nigeria.
Ansaru militants have been linked to several high-profile incidents, including the July 2022 assault on Kuje prison in Abuja, which freed more than 600 inmates, among them 64 Boko Haram suspects. Authorities also tied the group to a deadly raid on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger State, in the same year.
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu described Usman as the “coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies.” He also identified Mamuda as a foreign-trained operative who studied weapons handling and improvised explosive device (IED) fabrication under jihadist instructors in Libya between 2013 and 2015.
The pair have been 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 said their capture marks a turning point in Nigeria’s fight against insurgency, noting their ties to terrorist networks across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
