The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced two senior leaders of the Ansaru terrorist group to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to terrorism charges linked to their activities, including the 2022 attack on the Kuje Correctional Centre.
Justice Emeka Nwite handed down the sentence on Monday after the two defendants changed their earlier not guilty pleas and admitted to the 32-count charge filed against them by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The convicts are Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a, Abbas and Mukhtar, described as the self-styled Emir of Ansaru, and Mahmud al-Nigeri, also known as Malam Mamuda.
During the proceedings, defence counsel, Bala Dakum, informed the court that his clients wished to withdraw their earlier pleas and plead guilty to all the charges.
Counsel for the DSS did not oppose the application but urged the court to direct that the charges be read to the defendants again.
After the charges were read, both men pleaded guilty to all 32 counts.
Justice Nwite subsequently sentenced the convicts to life imprisonment on counts 30 and 31. He also imposed 20 years’ imprisonment on each of the remaining counts.
The court ordered that all the sentences should run concurrently.
The DSS had arraigned the two men in September 2025, when they pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In August 2025, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, announced the arrest of the two Ansaru leaders, describing them as key suspects in the 2022 Kuje prison break, during which more than 600 inmates, including 64 Boko Haram suspects, escaped.
Ribadu also linked the pair to several terrorist attacks, including the assault on the Kuje Correctional Centre, an attack on a uranium facility in Niger State, and the 2022 attack on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger State, which reportedly resulted in heavy casualties.
