Two alleged top commanders of the banned terror group, Ansaru, were on Thursday brought before the Federal High Court in Abuja under heavy security, as the Federal Government unveiled a raft of terrorism-related charges against them.
The suspects, identified as Mahmud Usman (alias Abu Bara’a Abbas/Mukhtar) and his deputy, Mahmud Al-Nigeri (alias Malam Mamuda), are facing a 32-count charge bordering on terrorism, conspiracy, attacks on military formations, jailbreaks, kidnappings, and links with foreign jihadist camps.
They were arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite, after operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) mounted multiple checkpoints around the court premises on the Shehu Shagari Expressway. Journalists were initially restricted from entering and broadcast crews barred from setting up equipment, before a handful of reporters were later admitted under strict watch.
According to court filings, the defendants are accused of masterminding the July 2022 jailbreak at Kuje Correctional Facility, which saw over 600 inmates escape, and of playing a role in the deadly attack on Wawa Cantonment in Niger State.
Investigators also linked them to the 2019 abduction of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, Magajin Garin Daura, the 2013 kidnap of French engineer Francis Collomp, and alleged plans to strike at a uranium facility in Niger Republic.
The charges further allege that the accused received training in Libya and Mali between 2013 and 2015, learning the use of explosives, weapons handling and war tactics under foreign extremist instructors.
The two men were reportedly captured during a multi-agency intelligence-led operation between May and July 2025, an operation the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, publicly confirmed in mid-August.
Prosecution was initiated by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, M.B. Abubakar, on behalf of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN).
One of the counts specifically accused the duo of conspiring to lead Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimeena Fii Bilaadis Sudan (Ansaru), a group already outlawed in Nigeria.
