Abuja – Two leaders of Nigerian jihadist group Ansaru pleaded guilty in a 32-count terrorism case on Monday, local media reported, capping a rare trial of high-profile jihadist commanders.
Africa’s most populous country has been locked in an insurgency since 2009, dominated by Boko Haram and the rival Islamic State West Africa Province, although smaller groups like Ansaru have also proliferated across the nation.
The government-owned News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Mahmud Muhammad Usman and fellow commander Mahmud al-Nigeri dropped their not-guilty pleas in the case, which has been running since September 2025.
The Abuja-based Premium Times reported that Federal High Court judge Emeka Nwite handed down two life sentences to each of the men, as well as a raft of 20-year penalties.
Usman had already pleaded guilty to an illegal mining charge last year but had, until Monday, been fighting the other 31 counts, which included charges related to fabricating explosive devices and terrorism financing.
President Bola Tinubu blamed the kidnapping in May of schoolchildren in southwestern Oyo state on Ansaru, a Boko Haram splinter group known to operate in central Nigeria and extending into the southwest.
The group has also been implicated in a major 2022 prison break in Kuje, just outside the capital Abuja, as well as an attack on a train travelling from Abuja to Kaduna that same year.
Ansaru — also known as Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan — was formed in 2012, later aligning itself with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The arest of Usman and al-Nigeri was announced in August 2025.
The government said they had been captured in a raid earlier that year.
Usman is also known as Abu Bara and al-Nigeri as Mallam Mamuda.
The president’s office accused the two of being involved in several high-profile kidnappings in central and northwestern Nigeria, and of organising a number of armed robberies.
They used the proceeds to “finance terrorism”, Tinubu’s office said.
The Oyo kidnapping sparked protests and pressure on the government.
Previously, many people had believed such attacks were contained to the north, where the jihadist insurgency is concentrated.
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Source: AFP
