Terrorism: Nigerian Govt arraigns Ansaru commanders amid tight security
The Nigerian government, through the Department of State Services, DSS, has finally arraigned two senior commanders of a proscribed terrorist organisation, Ansaru.
DAILY POST reports that the suspects are Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a Abbas/Mukhtar, and his deputy, Mahmud Al-Nigeri, also called Malam Mamuda.
The DSS filed a 32-count charge against them at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where they were arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite.
The suspects were brought into the courtroom at about 9:09 am, shortly after DSS operatives mounted checkpoints around the court complex on Shehu Shagari Expressway.
Journalists were initially barred from entering the premises, and broadcast crews were prevented from using recording equipment.
A few reporters were later allowed in under strict security watch.
The suspects were accused of attacking the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger State, in 2022, causing mass casualties.
They also allegedly received training in weapons handling, war tactics, and improvised explosive devices, IED, fabrication from terrorist camps.
The two senior commanders are also accused of receiving training in war tactics from a terrorist organisation in Mali.
Security officials allege that Mamuda trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors.
The DSS accused the commanders of masterminding the July 2022 jailbreak at Kuje prison, during which more than 600 inmates escaped.
They also allegedly planned the Niger uranium facility attack and multiple kidnappings, including that of French engineer, Francis Collomp, in 2013.
Other alleged crimes include the 2019 abduction of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, Magajin Garin Daura, and several armed robberies.
The alleged terrorist commanders were captured following a multi-agency, intelligence-led operation conducted between May and July 2025, according to National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who announced the arrests in mid-August.
The Federal Government, through Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, M.B. Abubakar, filed the charges on September 4, 3025, on behalf of Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.
One of the counts accuses Usman, from Okene LGA in Kogi State, and Abba, from Daura LGA in Katsina State, of aiding and abetting terrorism between 2013 and 2015, and of conspiring to form and lead Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimeena Fii Bilaadis Sudan (Ansaru), a proscribed terrorist group in Nigeria.
Terrorism: Nigerian Govt arraigns Ansaru commanders amid tight security
