A chilling account of international terror training, kidnappings, and bloody attacks emerged Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where two alleged commanders of the extremist group Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan – widely known as Ansaru – stood trial for terrorism-related offences.
An operative of the Department of State Services (DSS) told the court that the accused men confessed to travelling to Libya, where foreign jihadist instructors trained them in weapons handling and the deadly craft of improvised explosive devices.
According to the witness, the suspects revealed that instructors from Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria supervised their training camps, teaching them how to assemble and deploy improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and other battlefield weapons.
The disclosure formed part of the prosecution’s case against Mahmoud Muhammed Usman and Abubakar Abba, whom investigators say played key roles in expanding Ansaru’s violent network across several states.
The DSS witness testified that Usman was apprehended after months of intelligence surveillance identified him as a senior leader within the extremist organisation.
Abba, his alleged associate, was arrested in Kaduna State at the Ugwan Musa Bypass in Kaduna North Local Government Area during a separate security operation.
During interrogation, the suspects reportedly admitted their membership in Ansaru – a group security experts describe as a splinter faction of Boko Haram that broke away in 2012 and pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda-linked jihadist movements.
Ansaru emerged from ideological divisions within Boko Haram after some commanders opposed the indiscriminate killing of Muslim civilians. The faction instead sought to focus on high-profile attacks, kidnappings and international jihadist alliances.
Security analysts say the group quickly developed links with al-Qaeda affiliates operating across the Sahel, including training networks that stretch from North Africa to Mali.
Though it went largely dormant after 2014, Ansaru resurfaced in recent years, embedding itself in forested areas of north-western Nigeria and forming tactical alliances with bandit groups.
Authorities say the group now operates across parts of Kaduna, Niger, Katsina and other states.
Investigators told the court that the accused men confessed to a series of criminal acts linked to the terror organisation, including:
• The kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, an in-law of former President Muhammadu Buhari
• The abduction of an immigration officer and a customs official
• Armed attacks on Nigerian security forces
The DSS witness also testified that Abba admitted participating in a deadly assault on a Nigerian Army formation in Wawa in 2020, an attack that reportedly left several soldiers dead.
Ansaru has been responsible for some of the most shocking terror operations in Nigeria over the past decade.
Among its notable attacks:
• 2013: Kidnapping and execution of foreign hostages, including European engineers working in northern Nigeria.
• 2022: A deadly raid on a military base in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State, killing at least 17 soldiers.
• 2022: Participation in the dramatic assault on the Kuje Prison near Abuja that freed 879 inmates.
In several rural areas, militants have reportedly imposed taxes on farmers, enforced their own rules and created what residents describe as a “government within a government.”
During the testimony, the DSS witness said the second defendant admitted swearing allegiance to Jama’at Nusrat al‑Islam wal‑Muslimin (JNIM), a powerful al-Qaeda-linked coalition operating across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Authorities believe the group supplies Ansaru with weapons, ammunition and training, reinforcing fears that Nigeria’s insurgency is increasingly tied to other Sahel jihadist networks.
Security experts warn that such cross-border alliances allow militant groups to share tactics, training camps and funding channels.
Defence counsel Bala Dakum challenged the admissibility of the suspects’ confessional statements, arguing they should not be accepted as evidence.
But prosecutors insisted the statements were obtained legally and voluntarily, in the presence of a lawyer from the Legal Aid Council and in accordance with criminal justice laws.
Presiding judge Justice Emeka Nwite ruled that the court would conduct a trial-within-trial to determine whether the confessions were lawfully obtained.
The case was adjourned until April 13, 2026, when the court will begin examining the admissibility of the statements.
The trial comes amid persistent security challenges across Nigeria, where jihadist factions, bandits and criminal militias continue to attack civilians and security forces.
More than a decade of insurgency in the country’s north has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, turning vast rural regions into battlegrounds between militants and government forces.
