Nigeria nabs Al-qaeda-linked Ansaru leaders behind Kuje prison break

By Isaac Joseph Inyang

Nigeria has arrested two senior leaders of Ansaru, an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group, after months of intelligence-led operations. National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, announced on Saturday that the suspects, Mahmud Muhammad Usman, known as Abu Bara’a, and his deputy, Mahmud al-Nigeri, were captured in a counter-terrorism operation.

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According to Ribadu, Abu Bara’a had declared himself the Emir of Ansaru and was responsible for coordinating sleeper cells and funding extremist activities through kidnappings and armed robberies. His deputy, who commanded the Mahmudawa cell, was said to have received foreign training in Libya between 2013 and 2015.

Both men had been on Nigeria’s most wanted list and were linked to several high-profile attacks. Security officials identified them as masterminds of the 2022 Kuje prison break in Abuja, the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp, the 2013 attack on a Niger uranium facility, and the 2019 kidnapping of Magajin Garin Daura, Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, along with the abduction of the Emir of Wawa in Niger State.

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Ribadu described their arrests as a major step forward in the country’s efforts against terrorism, stressing that the operation was made possible through coordination among security agencies and support from regional and international partners. He said the breakthrough was not just about capturing two fugitives but about disrupting a network that had threatened national security for years.

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Security experts have, however, cautioned that while the arrests mark progress, splinter groups could attempt reprisals. They argue that the next phase will depend on how effectively intelligence gathered from the operation is used to prevent future attacks.

For now, the capture of Abu Bara’a and Mahmud al-Nigeri is being viewed as an important moment in Nigeria’s fight against violent extremism, offering renewed momentum in the wider effort to contain terrorist threats.