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The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, has announced the arrest of two men he identified as leaders of the Ansaru terrorist group, the gunmen behind several kidnap and jailbreak across the country.
Ribadu, who disclosed this at a press briefing on security developments at the Office of the National Security Adviser, identified those arrested as Abu Baraa, the Amir, and Mahmuda, the deputy Amir.
They were said to be responsible for masterminding several terrorist operations in Nigeria as well as high-profile kidnappings.
Also present at the briefing are the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the Inspector General of Police, and the Minister of Information and National Orientation.
Ribadu explained, “The first is Mahmud Muhammad Usman (aka Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar), the self-styled Emir of ANSARU. He is the coordinator of various terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria. He is also the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to finance terrorism over the years.
“The second is Mahmud al-Nigeri (aka Mallam Mamuda), Abu Bara’s proclaimed Chief of Staff and Deputy. He is the leader of the so-called “Mahmudawa” cell hiding out in and around the Kainji National Park, straddling Niger and Kwara States up to the Benin Republic.
“Mamuda trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, specialising in weapons handling and IED fabrication.”
The NSA said the two men had been on Nigeria’s most-wanted list for years, having jointly spearheaded multiple attacks on civilians, security forces, and critical infrastructure.
Ribadu said the suspects’ operations included the 2022 Kuje jailbreak, the attack on the Niger uranium facility, the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, and the May 1, 2019, kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba (Magajin Garin Daura).
“They were also behind the abduction of the Emir of Wawa, and they maintain active links with terrorist groups across the Maghreb, particularly in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The two men, who are wanted internationally, are currently in custody.
“The capture of Abu Bara and Mallam Mamuda, the group’s leader and deputy commander, respectively, marks one of the most significant achievements to date in our ongoing effort to rid Nigeria of the threat of terrorism. The successful decapitation of the leadership of this dangerous franchise marks the most decisive blow against ANSARU since its inception,” Ribadu added.
The NSA noted that the arrests had “effectively dismantled” the group’s central command while paving the path for its complete annihilation.
The Ansaru group was said to have first emerged in January 2012, with a public declaration in Kano, as a splinter faction from Boko Haram, positioning itself as a “humane alternative”.
However, its stated aim quickly turned to attacking Nigerian security operatives, civilian communities, and government infrastructure, Ribadu explained, stating further that the group publicly displayed the setting sun logo of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), signalling its ideological and operational alignment with global jihadist movements.
According to him, Ansaru entrenched itself over the years, in both urban sleeper cells and forest enclaves across several cities in northern Nigeria and forest-based enclaves, particularly around Kainji National Park, operating in Niger and Kwara states, as well as the Benin Republic.
