The Department of State Services (DSS) has arraigned two senior commanders of Ansaru, a proscribed terrorist organization, on a 32-count charge of terrorism and related crimes before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The suspects, identified as Mahmud Usman (alias Abu Bara’a Abbas/Mukhtar) — described as the self-styled “Emir of Ansaru” — and his deputy Mahmud Al-Nigeri (alias Malam Mamuda), are accused of masterminding some of Nigeria’s most daring terrorist operations.
According to the charges, the duo allegedly led the July 2022 Kuje prison attack, which freed more than 600 inmates, coordinated an assault on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, and plotted to strike a uranium facility in Niger State.
They are also linked to multiple high-profile kidnappings, including the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp and the 2019 kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, Magajin Garin Daura.
Investigators allege that both men received advanced training in weapons handling, explosives fabrication, and guerrilla warfare.
Mamuda reportedly trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors, while the group maintained operational ties with terrorist camps in Mali.
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu confirmed the arrests, describing Usman as Ansaru’s central coordinator of sleeper cells across Nigeria, while Mamuda acted as his “chief of staff,” leading the notorious Mahmudawa cell around Kainji National Park.
Ribadu stressed that the operation has “effectively dismantled Ansaru’s central command” and paved the way for the group’s defeat.
Ansaru, which broke away from Boko Haram in 2012, initially projected itself as a more “humane” faction but quickly adopted violent tactics.
The group embraced the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) logo, affirming its links to global jihadist networks.
In a related case, the DSS also arraigned Huzaifa Haruna, accused of transporting seven M-16 rifles from Dogo village in Barkin Ladi, Plateau State, to one Wakili Julde in Wase.
Justice Emeka Nwite is presiding over the arraignment of the suspects in Abuja.
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