By TAIYE AGBAJE

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday sentenced two Ansaru senior commanders to life imprisonment for terrorism offences.

The convicts are Mahmud Usman, a.k.a Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, the self-styled Emir of Ansaru; and Abubakar Abba, a.k.a Mahmud al-Nigeri/Malam Mamuda, who is the deputy and chief of staff to Bara’a.

Justice Emeka Nwite, in a judgment, convicted and sentenced them after the duo pleaded guilty to all the 32-count charge preferred against them by the DSS.

Justice Nwite held that he was minded to temper justice with mercy following the allocutus of the defendants’ lawyer, Bala Dakum, and Usman, 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 respectively.

Justice Nwite equally sentenced the 2nd defendant, Abba, to a 15-year imprisonment without option of fine, the same way Usman bagged the jail term.

He ordered that the sentencing shall run concurrently from the date of their arrest.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the convicted terrorists had, earlier, pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned on Sept. 11, 2025, by the DSS after their arrest.

They were arrested in separate operations between May and July 2025 by the DSS.

While Usman was the 1st defendant, Abba was named as the 2nd defendant in the terrorism-related charge marked: FHC//ABJ/CR/464/2025.

Though the two of them 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.

However after months of trial, Dakum, who was their lawyer, informed the court on Monday at the commencement of trial that he had consultation with the defendants.

He said his clients had decided to change their plea from not guilty to a guilty plea in all the counts.

“After having consultation with the defendants my lord, they have agreed and are ready to change their plea and we apply that the charge be ready to them accordingly,” he said.

The prosecution counsel, David Kaswe, did not oppose the application by Dakum for the 32 counts to be read to the defendants again for them to take their plea.

After the counts were read to them, the defendants pleaded guilty.

Kaswe then applied that the defendants be convicted in line with Section 274 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 following their unequivocal plea of guilty.

He also cited a 2017 previous case delivered by the Supreme Court to back his application.

The lawyer said the guilty plea was direct and pointed irresistibly to the fact that the defendants committed the offences charged.

“I urge this honourable court to draw strenght from the ACJA, 2015, I just cited and the apex court’s decision also cited and convict the defendants on all the 32 counts on the charge sheet filed by the prosecution.

“This is our humble application my lord,”

After the defence lawyer’s response, Justice Nwite convicted the defendants as charged in all the 32 counts in accordance with Section 274 of ACJA.

Making the allocutus on behalf of the convicts, Dakum begged the court to temper justice with mercy.

The lawyer said that the convicted terrorists had appreciated the intensity of the offence and that their admittance of guilt was not borne out of the attempt to trivialise the offence.

“However, they have come to the court in honest show of remorse and accepatnce of full responsibility for their actions,” he said.

He said though sentencing generally is a matter of discretion, the lawyer prayed the court to exercise its discretion judicially and judiciously.

He cited two previous cases to back his application.

Dakum, who begged the court to have mercy on the terrorists, said “the first convict (Usman) is a 50-year-old man and have 19 children.”

He said Usman “is also suffering from arthritis and he desires to go back to school” to be a changed person.

Dakum said, “the second convict (Abba) is a 34-years-old man with three children and a wife.

He is also suffering from arthritis and he is the bread winner of their family.”

He said the convicts, in their affidavits, deposed that they were drawn into terrorism by coercion.

He said they averred that “they were never willing to go into such act, while admitting that the acts committed were not intenstional at all.”

According to him, they are being monitored and their lives and that of their family members are under threat by others who are at large.

Dakum told the court that the convicts, if given lenient penalty, were willing to assist the security agencies through information sharing.

“The convicts informed me of their willingness to provide the security agencies with intelligence and information about anything relating with terrorism in Nigeria; their network, financing, intelligence, etc.

“Why they are not justifying their actions this morning, they are willing to support the security agencies,” he said.

He said the essence of punishment is not only to punish but to correct and serve as deterrent.

The lawyer, therefore, prayed the court to exercise its discretion in favour of the convicts.

The first convict, Usman, then indicated his intention to address the court.

While making his allocutus on behalf of the duo, Usman begged the court to have mercy on them.

He said they decided to change their minds in order not to waste the time of the court in the trial as they were now remorseful.

He said they knew that some of their members and other terrorists are being arrested by the DSS and other security agencies across the country.

“I am a man who has 19 children and I have been suffering this health condition (arthritis),” he said.

He begged if he could get treatment for his illness.

“I am pleading my lord, under your mercy, to please assist me in our situation. I am pleading seriously,” he begged.

The convicts were charged with terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, funding terrorism, fabricating Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), among others.

The DSS accused the suspects of coordinating sleeper cells, attacks and ties to Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, including groups in the Sahel/Maghreb.

NAN reports that, in counts 30 where the convicts bagged a life imprisonment, the DSS alleged that Usman of Okene Local Government Area (LGA) in Kogi and Abba of Daura LGA of Katsina State, sometimes in 2015 to 2025, committed the crime in Boko village, Moriki District in Anka LGA of Zamfara.

They were alleged to have financed terrorism activities by using proceeds of mining to procure arms and explosives.

The offence 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.

In count 31 that attracted life imprisonment also, they were alleged to have, sometimes in 2015 to 2025 in Katsina State and Niger State, financed terrorism activities by using ransoms received from victims of kidnapping to procure arms and explosives.

The offence 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.

It would be recalled that in July 2022, the Ansaru militants were linked to the attack on Kuje prison in Abuja, where over 600 inmates, including 64 Boko Haram suspects, escaped.

Abu Bara (Usman) was described as 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 (Abba), was said to have trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, specialising in weapons handling and IED fabrication.

The convicts, in the charge, allegedly attacked the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger State, in 2022, causing mass casualties.

The convicts were also charged for 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.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam 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.

NAN reports that 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 school children and teachers in Orire LGA of Oyo State. (NAN)

•PHOTO: Imprisoned Ansaru senior commanders Mahmud Usman, a.k.a Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, and Abubakar Abba, a.k.a Mahmud al-Nigeri/Malam Mamuda

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