Nigeria Strikes Major Blow as Ansaru Terror Leaders Captured

National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, has announced the arrest of two top commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group, describing the breakthrough as one of the “most significant achievements to date in our ongoing effort to rid Nigeria of the threat of terrorism.”

The arrested leaders are Mahmud Muhammad Usman (Abu Bara’a), the self-proclaimed “Emir of Ansaru,” and Mahmud al-Nigeri (Mallam Mamuda), the group’s deputy Amir and Chief of Staff.

Ribadu said Usman was the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across the country and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to finance terror operations. Mamuda, on the other hand, was identified as the head of a cell operating near Kainji National Park, with expertise in weapons handling and IED fabrication.

The two men long on Nigeria’s most wanted list are linked to major terror incidents including the 2022 Kuje jailbreak, as well as the kidnappings of French engineer Francis Collomp, Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, and the Emir of Wawa.

According to Ribadu, the arrests “mark the most decisive blow against Ansaru since its inception” and have “effectively dismantled” the group’s central command structure.

Ansaru, which broke away from Boko Haram in 2012 claiming to be a more “humane alternative,” quickly devolved into one of Nigeria’s deadliest extremist factions. It targeted security operatives, attacked government infrastructure, and openly displayed the insignia of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to emphasize its alignment with global jihadist movements. The group spread through urban sleeper cells and forest bases across northern Nigeria and into the Benin Republic.