As efforts are made towards eliminating acts of terrorism, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja and presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite has sentenced two senior members of the Ansaru terrorist group, an al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist organisation, to life in prison.
Justice Emeka Nwite handed down the sentence on Friday after the duo, Abubakar Abba, also known as Abu Barra, and Mahmud Usman pleaded guilty to a 32-count terrorism-related charges filed by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The charges included terrorism, terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other terrorism-related offences.
While sentencing them to life in prison on counts 30 and 31 of the charge and an additional 20-year prison term on each of the remaining counts, Justice Nwite ordered that the prison terms on the other counts should run from the date of the defendants’ arrest.
The two convicts, according to the persecution, served as commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group and were involved in coordinating sleeper cells, facilitating terrorist attacks and maintaining operational links with extremist groups across the Sahel and Maghreb regions.
The DSS further alleged that the convicts financed terrorist activities through illegal mining and were involved in the manufacture of improvised explosive devices used in attacks.
According to Court records, Mahmud Usman had earlier pleaded guilty to a separate count of illegal mining for the purpose of funding terrorism and procuring arms, for which he was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment.
Recall, the duo were arrested in separate intelligence-led operations conducted between May and July 2025.
