Ansaru leaders behind 2022 Kuje prison break arrested, says Ribadu

Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser (NSA), says security forces have arrested two top leaders of the Ansaru terrorist group suspected of masterminding the 2022 Kuje prison break.

Ribadu told journalists in Abuja on Saturday that the intelligence-led operation, conducted between May and July, decapitated the leadership of the Al-Qaeda-linked group.

He said the operation was carried out with the armed forces, intelligence agencies and other security stakeholders, and that the suspects had been on Nigeria’s most wanted list for years.

The NSA said the raids targeted Ansaru enclaves in and around Kainji National Park, spanning Niger and Kwara states, with links stretching into the Republic of Benin.

He identified one of the suspects as Mahmud Usman (aka Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar), the self-styled Emir of Ansaru, and the other as Mahmud al-Nigeri (aka Malam Mamuda), Bara’s deputy and chief of staff.

“Abu Bara was described as the coordinator of terrorist sleeper cells across Nigeria and the mastermind of several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to fund terrorism,” Ribadu said.

“His deputy, Malam Mamuda, was said to have trained in Libya between 2013 and 2015 under foreign jihadist instructors from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria, specialising in weapons handling and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) fabrication.”

Ribadu linked the duo to multiple terrorist attacks, including the 2022 Kuje prison break and the assault on a Niger uranium facility.

He added that the suspects were also named in the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina, the 2019 kidnapping of Musa Uba (Magajin Garin Daura), and the abduction of the Emir of Wawa.

Ribadu, who described their arrest as a turning point, said the suspects have networks across Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

“It has dismantled Ansaru’s central command structure and signals the beginning of the end to impunity for terrorist leaders in Nigeria,” he said.

“This feat exemplifies Nigeria’s advancing counter-terrorism capabilities.”

The NSA said security forces recovered valuable materials and digital evidence which are undergoing forensic analysis to generate further intelligence on residual Ansaru cells and their foreign collaborators.

He commended President Bola Tinubu for providing strategic guidance and praised the armed forces and security agencies for their “doggedness” in achieving the success.

He assured Nigerians that the government would sustain the momentum in the fight against terrorism and urged citizens to remain vigilant by providing timely information to security agencies.

“It followed months of deep surveillance, human intelligence and technical tracking, demonstrating enhanced sophistication and seamless inter-agency synergy,” he added.

“Nigeria will continue to pursue extremists with precision, resolve and unwavering determination.”