Two Ansaru commanders plead guilty to terrorism and kidnapping

Ansaru commanders Mammuda and Abu Baraa have pleaded guilty to a 32-count charge bordering on terrorism and kidnapping after being arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The DSS had charged the two senior members of the proscribed terrorist group in September 2025 over their alleged roles in several terrorist operations across Nigeria.

The suspects were accused of attacking the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger State, in 2022, resulting in multiple casualties. They were also alleged to have received training in weapons handling, war tactics and improvised explosive device (IED) fabrication at terrorist camps, including training in Mali. Mammuda was further accused of undergoing jihadist training in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign instructors.

According to the DSS, the pair masterminded the July 2022 attack on the Kuje Correctional Centre, during which more than 600 inmates escaped. They were also accused of planning the attack on the Niger uranium facility and coordinating several high-profile kidnappings, including the abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in 2013.

Other allegations against them include the 2019 kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, the Magajin Garin Daura, as well as involvement in several armed robberies used to finance terrorist activities. National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu announced the arrest of the two suspects in August 2025, identifying Abu Baraa as the self-styled Amir of Ansaru and Mammuda as his deputy and chief of staff.

Ribadu said Abu Baraa coordinated terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and masterminded numerous kidnappings and armed robberies, while Mammuda led the “Mahmudawa” cell operating around Kainji National Park across Niger and Kwara states and into the Benin Republic.

The NSA also linked the suspects to the Kuje prison attack, the Niger uranium facility attack, the abduction of the Emir of Wawa, and cross-border links with terrorist groups operating in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. Ribadu described their arrest as one of the most significant breakthroughs in Nigeria’s counter-terrorism efforts, saying the capture of the group’s leader and deputy dealt a major blow to Ansaru’s operations.

Ansaru, which emerged in January 2012 as a splinter faction of Boko Haram, was said to have aligned itself with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and established sleeper cells and forest camps across northern Nigeria, particularly around Kainji National Park.