DSS arraigns top Ansaru commanders on terrorism charges
Story by Susan Mbamah
The Department of State Services (DSS) has arraigned two senior commanders of the terrorist organization, Ansaru.
The two commanders of the Al-Qaeda-linked sect—Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, the self-styled Emir of Ansaru, and Mahmud al-Nigeri, also known as Malam Mamuda, Bara’s deputy and chief of staff—were arraigned on Thursday before Judge Emeka Nwite on a 32-count charge bordering on terrorism.
The suspects were recently arrested during security force operations and face charges for leading a terrorist organization, financing its activities, recruiting fighters, and coordinating violent attacks across Nigeria.
In July 2022, Ansaru militants were linked to the attack on Kuje prison in Abuja, which resulted in the escape of over 600 inmates, including 64 Boko Haram suspects. The suspects also allegedly attacked the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger state, in 2022, causing numerous casualties.
READ ALSO: DSS files terrorism charges against Ansaru leaders linked to Kuje prison break
National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu described the arrested commanders as the masterminds of the jailbreak.
According to Ribadu, Abu Bara was the “coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to fund terrorism.”
His deputy, Malam Mamuda, reportedly “trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, specializing in weapons handling and improvised explosive device (IED) fabrication.”
READ ALSO: Terrorism spread to seven LGAs in Nasarawa, Kogi, as troops apprehend 13 terrorists
The NSA added that the suspects were also named in the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina state, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Uba (Magajin Garin Daura), and the abduction of the Emir of Wawa.
Describing their arrest as a “turning point,” Ribadu noted that the suspects have networks across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
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