The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday sentenced two Ansaru senior commanders to life imprisonment for terrorism offences.
The convicts are the self-styled Emir of Ansaru, Mahmud Usman; and Abubakar Abba, who is the deputy and chief of staff to Usman.
The presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, convicted and sentenced them after the duo pleaded guilty to all the 32-count charge preferred against them by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Justice Nwite held that he was minded to temper justice with mercy following the allocutus of the defendants’ lawyer, Bala Dakum, who pleaded on behalf of the two convicts.
The judge, therefore, sentenced the convicts to a life imprisonment in counts 30 and 31.
He also sentenced them to a 20-year jail term without an option of fine in counts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 32.
Justice Nwite equally sentenced the second defendant, Abba, to a 15-year imprisonment without option of fine, the same way Usman bagged the jail term.
He ordered that the sentencing should run concurrently from the date of their arrest.
The convicted terrorists had earlier pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned on September 11, 2025, by the DSS after their arrest.
They were arrested in separate operations between May and July 2025 by the DSS.
Though the two pleaded not guilty to the counts, only Usman pleaded guilty to count 10 of the 32 counts which bordered on illegal mining for funding terrorism/arms and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
The first defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the remaining 31 counts while Abba pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The convicts were charged with terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, funding terrorism, and fabricating Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), among others.
The DSS accused the convicted terrorists of coordinating sleeper cells, attacks and ties to Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, including groups in the Sahel/Maghreb.
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The DSS said Usman of Okene Local Government Area in Kogi State and Abba of Daura LGA of Katsina State, in 2015 to 2025, committed the crime in Boko village, Moriki District in Anka LGA of Zamfara State.
They were alleged to have financed terrorism activities by using proceeds of mining to procure arms and explosives.
The offence, according to the DSS, is contrary to Section 21 of the Terrorism (of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022) and punishable under Section 21 (2) (a) of the same Act.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, had described the arrested commanders as masterminds of the Kuje jailbreak.
Ribadu, who described their arrest as a turning point, said the convicts had networks across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
The demand for the release of the two convicted terrorists were part of the conditions given by the terror group who kidnapped the recently released pupils and teachers in Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
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