The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed terrorism charges against two top commanders of Ansaru, an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group.
The suspects are Mahmud Muhammad Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a, Abbas, or Mukhtar, who is described as the self-styled Emir of Ansaru; and his deputy, Mahmud al-Nigeri, also called Malam Mamuda.
They were arrested recently during operations by Nigerian security forces.
According to the DSS, the charges against them include leading a terror organisation, financing terrorism, recruiting fighters, and coordinating violent attacks across Nigeria.
Their arraignment at the Federal High Court in Abuja is expected in the coming days.
National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, said the two men were behind several major terrorist operations in Nigeria.
He named them as masterminds of the July 2022 attack on Kuje prison in Abuja, which led to the escape of more than 600 inmates, including 64 Boko Haram suspects.
“Abu Bara was the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to finance terrorism,” Ribadu said.
He added that Malam Mamuda trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, where he specialised in weapons handling and making Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
The NSA also linked the two men to the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Umar Uba, Magajin Garin Daura, and the abduction of the Emir of Wawa.
Ribadu said their arrest marked “a turning point,” adding that the suspects have operational links with terrorist networks in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
The United States and the United Kingdom publicly praised the operation. In messages on X, they commended the Nigerian government and security forces for achieving a “significant step forward in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and extremism.”
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