Africa: All of Africa Today – September 1, 2025

Nigerian Forces Capture Two Senior Ansaru Terrorist Leaders

On 16 August, the Nigerian government announced that it had captured two senior Ansaru leaders, Mahmud Usman (Abu Bara’a) and Mahmud al-Nigeri (Mallam Mamuda), after a months-long intelligence-led operation. Abu Bara’a, described as the “Emir of Ansaru,” coordinated sleeper cells across Nigeria, masterminded kidnappings and terrorist financing, and had previously been imprisoned before escaping in a 2012 Boko Haram-linked jailbreak…