DSS to Appeal Ansaru Commanders Life Sentence, Seeks Death Penalty

The Department of State Services (DSS) will appeal Monday’s life sentence imposed on two top commanders of the Ansaru terror organisation by a Federal High Court, Abuja.

Justice Emeka Nwite had sentenced Mahmud Usman, a.k.a Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, the self-styled Emir of Ansaru; and Abubakar Abba, a.k.a Mahmud al-Nigeri/Malam Mamuda, to life shortly after they pleaded guilty to all the 32-count charges against them.

But Channels Television quoted a top official of the DSS who said the security agency considered the life sentence too light a punishment for the crimes allegedly committed by the Ansaru commanders.

The official said the Service found it curious that both convicts were on the verge of pleading guilty to the charges, but changed their minds shortly after some persons believed to be members of the same Ansaru organisation kidnapped pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

“For the nearly 60 days the kidnappers held on to the pupils and teachers of Oriire,” the top DSS official said, pleading anonymity, “the Ansaru commanders in our custody changed.

“One of the top conditions the abductors gave was the unconditional release of these same Ansaru commanders in exchange for the Oriire kidnap victims,” .

“From ‘not guilty plea,’ the two men, at the penultimate court session, said they were undecided on what plea to take. Justice Nwite even had to hand them an ultimatum to make up their minds on or before Monday’s sitting.

“After the Oriire rescue, they came to court to plead guilty to all the charges,” the official added.

According to the top official, allowing the two terror commanders to walk away with life sentences would not serve the cause of justice for the two Oriire teachers beheaded by their abductors.

“The reason the terrorists beheaded the two Oriire teachers was to put pressure on the government to release these two Ansaru commanders. It, therefore, wouldn’t be fair to see two men beheaded and their families made to live with the losses without adequately bringing the culprits to book,” the official said.

The Federal High Court in Abuja had sentenced two senior commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group, an al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist organisation, to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to multiple terrorism-related offences.

Justice Nwite handed down the sentence after convicting them on a 32-count charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.

The charges included terrorism, terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and other offences linked to terrorist operations.

The court sentenced both men to life imprisonment on counts 30 and 31, while imposing additional 20-year prison terms on the remaining counts. Justice Nwite ordered that the sentences on the other counts should take effect from the date of their arrest.