The two convicted terrorists changed their pleas on Monday before the judge handed down the verdict sentencing them to life imprisonment.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday sentenced two suspected Ansaru commanders to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to 32 terrorism-related charges.
The convicts, Abubakar Abba (also known as Abu Bara’a) and Mahmud Usman (also known as Isah Adam and Mahmud), were prosecuted by the State Security Service (SSS) on behalf of the federal government.
Judge Emeka Nwite handed down the verdict after the convicts, who were captured last year by Nigerian security forces, changed their earlier “not guilty” to “guilty” on Monday.
The judge sentenced both men to life imprisonment on counts 30 and 31. He also imposed 20 years’ imprisonment on each of the remaining counts and ordered that the prison terms should run from the date of their arrest.
SSS initially arraigned the two suspected Ansaru commanders before the court on 32 terrorism-related charges on 11 September 2025.
The 32 counts included terrorism, terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, funding terrorism, fabricating improvised explosive devices and related offences.
The agency also alleged that they coordinated sleeper cells, orchestrated attacks and maintained links with Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist groups operating across the Sahel and Maghreb regions.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges at the time.
The trial later stalled after defence lawyer Bala Dakum complained that SSS officials denied him access to the defendants to prepare their defence.
When proceedings resumed, the prosecution opened its case with testimony from an SSS operative identified by the codename “Triple A.”
The witness told the court that the defendants confessed to receiving weapons training in Libya, admitted belonging to Ansaru and maintained links with terrorist groups operating across the Sahel and Maghreb regions.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the two defendants earlier on Monday opted to change their initial not-guilty pleas, prompting the court to direct the 32 charges to be read to them afresh.
They pleaded guilty to each of the 32 counts as court official read out the charges one after the other to the two men.
Details later…
