A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced two senior commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to a 32-count charge bordering on terrorism and related offences.
Justice Emeka Nwite, who delivered the judgment, held that the prosecution had proved its case following the defendants’ voluntary guilty plea.
The convicts, Mahmud Usman, also known as Abu Baraa, and Abubakar Abba, also known as Mahmud Al-Nigeri, were arrested during coordinated operations by Nigerian security agencies. Investigations by security agencies led the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation to arraign them for allegedly playing key roles in the activities and operations of the terrorist group within and outside Nigeria.
The defendants admitted to offences including terrorism, kidnapping, terrorism financing, illegal mining to fund terrorist activities, fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), coordinating terrorist sleeper cells, and maintaining links with terrorist organisations operating across the Sahel and Maghreb regions.
After changing their pleas from not guilty to guilty, the court ruled that the plea was entered voluntarily and in compliance with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
Defence counsel, Bala Dakup, told journalists after the proceedings that he had explained the legal implications of the guilty plea to his clients, who fully understood the consequences of their decision.
Justice Nwite subsequently convicted the two men on all 32 counts and sentenced each of them to life imprisonment, bringing the terrorism trial to a close.
The prosecution team declined to comment after the judgment.