Ansaru commander Mahmud Usman faces 15 years imprisonment for aiding Kuje prison break

A federal high court in Abuja has jailed Mahmud Usman, commander of the proscribed Ansaru sect, for 15 years.

Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a, Abbas or Mukhtar, admitted he ran illegal mining and used the proceeds to buy arms for terrorism and kidnappings.

Justice Emeka Nwite handed down the sentence on Thursday, ordering him to remain in the DSS custody as he faces trial on 31 other counts.

Usman, who calls himself “Emir of Ansaru,” appeared in court alongside his deputy, Mahmud al-Nigeri, better known as Malam Mamuda.

Both men face a 32-count charge of leading a terrorist organisation, recruiting fighters, financing operations and coordinating attacks.

Ansaru fighters were linked to the July 2022 Kuje prison raid in Abuja, which freed over 600 inmates including 64 Boko Haram suspects.

They were also accused of the deadly assault on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Niger State.

Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser, called Usman and Mamuda masterminds of the jailbreak.

He described Usman as coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells and the brains behind several high-profile kidnappings.

Mamuda, his deputy, trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors, specialising in weapons and IED fabrication.

The duo has also been linked to the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Uba, Magajin Garin Daura, and the abduction of the Emir of Wawa.

Ribadu hailed their arrest as a turning point, warning that Ansaru networks stretch across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.