The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced an alleged commander of the Ansaru terrorist group, Abubakar Abba, also known as Abu Bara, to life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to terrorism charges brought by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Justice Emeka Nwite also sentenced Abba’s co-defendant, Mahmud Usman, also known as Isah Adam or Mahmud, to life imprisonment after both men admitted to a 32-count charge bordering on terrorism and related offences.
The court imposed life sentences on the pair on counts 30 and 31, while sentencing them to 20 years’ imprisonment on the remaining counts. The prison terms on the other counts are to run from the dates of their arrests in separate operations between May and July 2025.
The charges included terrorism, terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), coordinating sleeper cells and maintaining links with terrorist groups operating in the Sahel and Maghreb.
Usman was also convicted on a separate count of illegal mining to finance terrorism and arms procurement and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment.
Meanwhile, the DSS said it would appeal the life sentences, arguing that they did not adequately reflect the gravity of the offences.
A senior official of the agency, who spoke to journalists, described the punishment as too lenient for the crimes allegedly committed by the two convicts.
The official also claimed that the defendants had initially indicated their intention to plead guilty but changed their position following the abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State by persons believed by the DSS to be members of the same organisation.
According to the official, the abductors demanded the unconditional release of the two Ansaru commanders in exchange for the kidnapped victims.
In a related development, troops under Operation Hadin Kai arrested a Sudanese national, Musa Fashir, and a 36-year-old woman identified as Mary Florence during an operation in Lassa, Dille General Area of Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.
The military said Fashir, 32, was arrested by troops of the 115 Task Force Battalion on Sunday, bringing to five the number of foreign terrorist suspects intercepted in the North-East within the past two weeks.
The Media Information Officer of Operation Hadin Kai, Capt. Mohammed Goni, said preliminary intelligence suggested that the Sudanese suspect had links to terrorist elements.
Goni said Florence claimed to be a Ghanaian national but added that the circumstances surrounding her presence in the area and the authenticity of her claim were under investigation.
He said both suspects remained in military custody, where they were undergoing profiling and interrogation to establish their identities, determine the extent of their activities and ascertain any links to terrorist or transnational criminal networks.
The military also disclosed that it had recently arrested a suspected foreign spy, Abubakar Mohammed Zen, in Mallam Fatori, Abadam Local Government Area of Borno State.
It further said three suspected foreign terrorist facilitators — Abu Ishaq, described as a Palestinian Arab believed to be an overall trainer for the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP); Abu Thaiba, a Moroccan doctor allegedly serving within the terrorist network; and another unidentified Arab national — were earlier arrested in Cross Kauwa, Kukawa Local Government Area.
Separately, the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yusuf Dingyadi, said the Federal Government’s deployment of advanced security technology and non-kinetic strategies was producing positive results in tackling insecurity in the North-West.
In a statement, Dingyadi said the renewed security approach had contributed to a reduction in banditry and other violent crimes across several communities in Zamfara, Kaduna, Kebbi, Katsina and Sokoto states.
He also accused informants of aiding criminal groups and undermining security operations, while cautioning against the politicisation of security issues.
Also, the Director of the National Education Summit, Prof. Adams Agahiu, commended President Bola Tinubu and the Nigerian Armed Forces for the rescue of students and teachers abducted from schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Agahiu said the operation demonstrated the Federal Government’s commitment to tackling terrorism and kidnapping, adding that security forces had refused to accede to the kidnappers’ demands and had disrupted their operations by cutting off supplies and arresting suspected collaborators.
