The Department of State Services (DSS) plans to contest the life sentences recently handed down to two Ansaru terrorist leaders. Security expert Zagazola Makama noted that the agency finds the current ruling insufficient given the severe nature of the defendants’ actions.
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja delivered the life sentences to Abubakar Abba, also called Abu Bara’a, and Mahmud Usman, alias Isah Adam/Mahmud, following their guilty pleas to 32 counts of terrorism. While they received life terms for two counts, other charges carried 20-year sentences. The men were convicted of crimes including kidnapping, funding terrorism, crafting improvised explosive devices, and overseeing extremist sleeper cells throughout the Sahel and Maghreb.
A senior DSS representative indicated that the agency intends to seek a harsher penalty. This decision stems largely from the pair’s involvement in the kidnapping of students and educators in Oriire, Oyo State. The kidnappers allegedly demanded the release of these specific commanders, going so far as to behead two teachers to coerce the government. The DSS argues that allowing such a sentence to stand ignores the immense suffering inflicted upon the victims’ families, and they are preparing an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
