Court Jails Ansaru Commander 15 Years for Role in Kuje Prison Break

Court Jails Ansaru Commander 15 Years for Role in Kuje Prison Break

By Abiola Adigun

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced Mahmud Usman, a top commander of the proscribed Ansaru sect, to 15 years in prison for terrorism-related offences linked to the 2022 Kuje prison attack.
Usman, also known by the aliases Abu Bara’a, Abbas, or Mukhtar, pleaded guilty on Thursday to engaging in illegal mining and channeling the proceeds to finance arms procurement for terrorism and kidnapping operations.
Justice Emeka Nwite, who delivered the judgment, ordered that Usman remain in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) while facing trial on 31 other terrorism-related charges.
Usman, who styled himself as the “Emir of Ansaru,” appeared in court alongside his deputy and chief of staff, Mahmud al-Nigeri, popularly called Malam Mamuda. The duo face a 32-count indictment bordering on leading a terrorist organisation, financing its activities, recruiting fighters, and coordinating violent attacks across Nigeria.
Ansaru, a breakaway faction of Boko Haram, was linked to the July 2022 attack on Kuje prison in Abuja, during which over 600 inmates, including 64 Boko Haram suspects, escaped. The group has also been accused of orchestrating the deadly assault on the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger State, that same year.
National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, had described Usman and Mamuda as masterminds of the Kuje jailbreak and key figures in Ansaru’s operations. He said Abu Bara served as the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria, responsible for high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to bankroll terrorism.
Mamuda, Ribadu added, trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors and specialised in weapons handling and improvised explosive device (IED) fabrication.
Both men have also been linked to the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina State, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Uba, the Magajin Garin Daura, and the abduction of the Emir of Wawa. Ribadu described their arrest as a turning point in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism, noting their networks extended across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.