A federal high court in Abuja has sentenced Mahmud Usman, a commander of the proscribed Ansaru sect, to 15 years in prison. Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a, Abbas, or Mukhtar, pleaded guilty to engaging in illegal mining and using the proceeds to finance terrorism and kidnapping operations.
Presiding judge Emeka Nwite ordered that Usman remain in the custody of the Department of State Services while facing trial on 31 additional charges. He appeared in court alongside his deputy and chief of staff, Mahmud al-Nigeri, widely known as Malam Mamuda.
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The two men are facing a 32-count indictment for allegedly leading Ansaru, recruiting fighters, and coordinating violent attacks. Security officials linked them to the 2022 attack on Kuje prison in Abuja, where more than 600 inmates, including 64 Boko Haram suspects, escaped. They are also accused of attacking the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Niger State that same year.
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu described Usman as the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells and a mastermind of high-profile kidnappings, while Mamuda was said to have trained with foreign jihadists in Libya between 2013 and 2015. Authorities also linked the pair to the abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in 2013, the kidnapping of Musa Uba in 2019, and the abduction of the Emir of Wawa.
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