A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday convicted and sentenced a top commander of the proscribed terrorist group Ansaru; Mahmud Usman, to 15 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to charges related to illegal mining used to fund terrorism and kidnapping.
Usman was arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) on terrorism-linked charges, including engaging in unauthorized mining activities to generate funds for acquiring weapons and explosives used in terrorist operations. The presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, delivered the sentencing and further ordered that the convict be remanded in DSS custody, pending trial on 31 additional charges still pending against him.
According to the 32-count charge filed by the DSS, Usman and an associate, Abubakar Abba, allegedly carried out acts of terrorism in 2022, including an attack on Wawa Cantonment of the Nigerian Army in Kainji, Niger State, which led to significant casualties. The DSS further alleges that the accused received advanced training in weapons handling, the fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and war tactics from terrorist camps both in Nigeria and in Mali.
Justice Nwite has fixed October 21, 2025, as the date for the continuation of Usman’s trial on the remaining charges.
The DSS also accusedc Usman of being one of the masterminds of the July 2022 attack on Kuje prison, which resulted in the escape of more than 600 inmates, many of them high-profile terror suspects. Additional accusations include plotting an attack on Nigeria’s uranium facility, orchestrating a series of high-profile kidnappings, including that of French engineer Francis Collomp in 2013, and involvement in the 2019 abduction of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, the Magajin Garin Daura.
Confirming Usman’s arrest, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, described him as the “self-styled Emir of Ansaru” and the coordinator of various terrorist sleeper cells operating across Nigeria. According to Ribadu, Usman’s close associate, identified as Mamuda, acted as his “chief of staff” and led the Mahmudawa terrorist cell near Kainji National Park.
Ansaru, which splintered from Boko Haram in January 2012 in Kano, has remained one of Nigeria’s most dangerous terror factions. The group has carried out multiple kidnappings, assassinations, and attacks targeting both local and foreign nationals, while aligning itself with global jihadist networks, including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
