The Federal Government will on Thursday, September 11, 2025, arraign two senior commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated network, before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The suspects, identified as Mahmud Muhammed Usman (alias Abu Bara’a/Abbas Mukhtar) and his deputy, Abubakar Abba (alias Isah Adam/Mahmud Al-Nigeri, popularly known as Mallam Mamuda), will be brought before Justice Emeka Nwite on a 32-count charge bordering on terrorism.
According to court documents marked FHC/ABJ/CR/464/2025, the charge was filed on September 4 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. Abu Bara’a is listed as the first defendant, while Mahmud Al-Nigeri is the second defendant.
The defendants are accused of aiding and abetting acts of terrorism between 2013 and 2015, including conspiring to establish themselves as top commanders of Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimeena Fii Bilaadis Sudan (JAMBS/Ansaru), a proscribed terrorist organisation in Nigeria.
One of the charges states: “You thereby commit an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 17 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013 and punishable under the same Section of the Act.”
Other counts allege that the men received training in weapons handling and the fabrication of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) from various terrorist camps, as well as training in war tactics from Jama’atu Nusratil Islami Wal Muslimin (JNIM), a terrorist group based in Mali.
They are further accused of participating in the 2022 attack on Wawa Cantonment of the Nigerian Army in Kainji, New-Bussa, Borgu LGA of Niger State, which resulted in heavy casualties.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the defendants were captured during a high-risk, intelligence-led operation conducted by Nigeria’s security and intelligence services between May and July 2025.
National Security Adviser Malam Nuhu Ribadu, while briefing journalists on August 16, confirmed the arrests, noting that the suspects had long been on both national and international terror watch lists.
Ansaru, a splinter group linked to Al-Qaeda, has been accused of several high-profile terrorist attacks and kidnappings across Nigeria in the past decade.