Two Ansaru commanders receive life sentences after pleading guilty to terrorism, kidnapping, terror financing and other related offences.
Mahmud Usman and Abubakar Abba commanders of Ansaru, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group, have been handed life sentences by a Federal High Court for terrorism.
Both men arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) were handed the sentence after pleading guilty to the 32-count terrorism charge brought against them by the agency on behalf of the federal government.
The two convicts were sentenced to life in prison in counts 30 and 31 while they were sentenced to 20 years in the rest of the charges.
The Judge ordered that the jail term on the other counts should commence from the date of their arrest.
Usman (1st defendant) had previously pleaded guilty to one count of illegal mining used to fund terrorism and arms procurement. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment but pleaded not guilty to the remaining 31 counts. Abba (2nd defendant) pleaded not guilty to all 32 counts.
The case stalled the last time the matter came up on July 9 as the 2nd defendant Abba expressed willingness first to change his plea to admit guilt but later expressed reservations about taking that road.
They both eventually admitted guilt on all counts with a sentence of life behind bars being the consequence.
The convicts were arrested in separate operations between May and July 2025 by the DSS.
The charges against them include acts of terrorism, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining to fund terrorism, fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), terrorism financing, and other related offences.
They are also accused of coordinating sleeper cells, multiple attacks, and maintaining operational ties with terrorist groups across the Sahel and Maghreb regions.
