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A High Court in Abuja has sentenced two high-ranking Ansaru commanders to life imprisonment after they reversed their earlier not-guilty pleas and admitted to all 32 terrorism charges against them.
Justice Emeka Nwite handed down the sentences to Mahmud Usman, the self-styled Emir of Ansaru, and his deputy Abubakar Abba on Monday, after the pair confessed to offences ranging from terrorism financing and kidnapping for ransom to illegal mining and the manufacture of improvised explosive devices.
The court also imposed 20-year jail terms on both convicts for the remaining charges, with the sentences ordered to run concurrently from the date of their arrest.
The prisoners were originally arraigned in September 2025 by the Department of State Services but changed their plea on Monday through their lawyer, Bala Dakum, who informed the court that his clients had become remorseful and wished to accept responsibility.
Defence counsel appealed for leniency, telling the court that Usman, aged 50, is a father of 19 children, while Abba, 34, has three children and is the breadwinner of his family.
Both suffer from arthritis, the court was told, and had been coerced into joining the terrorist group.
Usman personally addressed the court, stating they were committed to cooperating with security agencies, including sharing intelligence about terrorist networks and financing, if given a lighter sentence.
They also expressed fears for their lives and those of their families due to threats from other terrorists still at large.
Prosecution counsel David Kaswe urged the court to convict them based on their unequivocal guilty plea, citing the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015. Justice Nwite accepted the plea and convicted the pair on all counts.
The convicts were linked to the 2022 Kuje prison attack in Abuja, which saw hundreds of inmates escape, and also the assault on the army’s Wawa Cantonment in Niger State. They also faced charges over the abduction of a French national and a traditional ruler.
National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu has described the two as key figures in a regional terror network with links across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
