Prosecutor’s absence stalls ‘terrorism’ trial of Ansaru commanders

A federal high court in Abuja has adjourned the trial of two suspected leaders of the terrorist organisation, Ansaru.

Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, adjourned the matter on Tuesday due to the absence of Mohammed Abubakar, the prosecution counsel.

When the matter came up for hearing, the judge noted that the prosecution counsel had sent a letter apologising for his absence and explaining the reason for it.

The judge added that Abubakar also requested an adjournment to allow him personally to conduct the trial at the next sitting.

With no objection from the defence counsel, Nwite adjourned the case to November 19 for the commencement of trial.

The two commanders of the Al-Qaeda-linked sect—Mahmud Usman, aka Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, the self-styled Emir of Ansaru, and Mahmud al-Nigeri, a.k.a Malam Mamuda, Bara’s deputy and chief of staff—were arraigned on Thursday, September 11, on a 32-count charge bordering on terrorism.

The suspects, who were recently arrested during operations by security forces, are facing charges bordering on leading a terrorist organisation, financing its activities, recruiting fighters, and coordinating violent attacks across Nigeria.

In July 2022, Ansaru terrorists were linked to the attack on Kuje prison in Abuja, where over 600 inmates, including 64 Boko Haram suspects, escaped.

In 2022, the suspects allegedly attacked the Nigerian Army’s Wawa Cantonment in Kainji, Niger state, causing mass casualties.

Nuhu Ribadu, national security adviser (NSA), had described the two arrested commanders of the Ansaru as masterminds of the Kuje jail break.

The NSA added that the suspects were also named in the 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina state, 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.

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”.

His deputy, 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.

On September 11, Usman entered a guilty plea to the charge that he engaged in illegal mining activities, the proceeds of which he used to procure arms for terrorism and kidnapping operations.

Afterward, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for engaging in illegal mining activities.

The judge ordered that the defendant be held in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) pending trial on 31 other counts filed against him.