Court sentences Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists to life imprisonment

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday convicted and sentenced the commander of Ansaru, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, Abubakar Abba, to life imprisonment.

Abba, also known as Abu Bara, who was prosecuted for alleged terrorism, was sentenced to life imprisonment along with his co-defendant, Mahmud Usman, also known as Isah Adam/Mahmud, after they pleaded guilty to the 32-count terrorism charge preferred against them.

Justice Emeka Nwite, while delivering judgment in the case, sentenced the convicts to life imprisonment on Counts 30 and 31, while they were sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment on the remaining counts.

The judge ordered that the jail terms on the other counts should commence from the date of their arrest.

The convicts were arrested in separate operations between May and July 2025 and were slammed with a 32-count terrorism charge, including terrorism and terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, funding terrorism, fabricating Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), among other offences.

They were also accused of coordinating sleeper cells, carrying out attacks, and maintaining ties with groups in the Sahel and Maghreb regions.