In a major victory for Nigeria’s security forces authorities have managed to capture two top-ranking members of an Al-Qaeda-linked organization operating inside Nigeria. The operation, which ran between May and July 20, 2025 targeted the leaders of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimsina Fi-Biladis Sudan, also known as Ansaru and culminated in the detention of the group’s self-proclaimed emir as well as his deputy.
The principal suspected suspect Mahmud Muhammad Usman is known by various aliases, like Abu Bara’a, Abbas, or Mukhtar was the emir, and was responsible for orchestrating numerous terrorist acts. As the sleeper cells scattered throughout Nigeria and the world, he orchestrated numerous notorious kidnappings and targeted robberies with guns to fund their activities. The arrest of him disrupts a system that’s been a long time evading detection and is a crucial stage in removing the network’s infrastructure.
Together with him, Mahmud al-Nigeri, also called Mallam Mamuda, was detained as the deputy leader. Mamuda was the commander of his cell, the Mahmudawa cell, which is primarily operating in the vicinity of Kainji National Park, which extends across Niger and Kwara States and into Benin Republic. Mamuda’s knowledge stems from the his training from Libya in 2013-2015. There, Mamuda was trained in advanced techniques of weapon handling as well as the design and manufacture of explosive devices that were improvised under the guidance of instructors who came from Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria.
These people are on Nigeria’s most wanted list for many years as well as being sought out internationally. Their involvement dates back to numerous infamous incidents that include twenty-two years ago’s Kuje prison break that released many prisoners, an attack on a facility for uranium in Niger and the abduction in 2013 of French engineer Francis Collomp, and the kidnapping of the Alhaji Musa Umar Uba who has an honorary title, Magajin Garin Daura. They are also linked to the kidnapping by The Emir of Wawa and have ongoing relationships to terrorist networks within the Maghreb region, specifically within Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
The arrests were made public during a briefing held in Abuja that highlighted the co-operative action of security and intelligence agencies in carrying out this mission based on intelligence. Both suspects are currently being held, authorities view this as a significant attack on the central command of Ansaru and their ability to plan and carry out attacks in the future. This incident underscores the constant determination to fight terrorism as well as urging public vigilance and the sharing of current information to aid in these efforts.
