A Federal High Court in Abuja has convicted Mahmud Usman, a commander of the proscribed Ansaru sect, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison for terrorism-related offences.
Usman, also known by his aliases Abu Bara’a, Abbas, or Mukhtar, pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges of engaging in illegal mining and using the proceeds to procure arms for terrorist and kidnapping operations.
Delivering judgment, Justice Emeka Nwite ordered that the convict remain in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) pending trial on 31 other counts filed against him.
Usman, who styled himself as the “Emir of Ansaru,” appeared in court alongside his deputy and chief of staff, Mahmud al-Nigeri, popularly called Malam Mamuda. Both men face a 32-count indictment accusing them of leading a terrorist organisation, financing its activities, recruiting fighters, and coordinating violent attacks across Nigeria.
Authorities linked Ansaru militants to several high-profile attacks, including the July 2022 raid on Kuje Prison in Abuja, where more than 600 inmates, including 64 Boko Haram suspects, escaped.
They were also accused of the 2022 attack on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Niger State, which left many casualties.
National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu had described Usman as “the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to fund terrorism.”
Mamuda, his deputy, was said to have trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors, specialising in weapons handling and improvised explosive device (IED) fabrication.
The duo have also been linked to the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Uba (Magajin Garin Daura), and the abduction of the Emir of Wawa.
The post Court sentences Ansaru sect leader Mahmud Usman to 15 years in prison appeared first on Vanguard News.
