Oriire Abduction: DSS seeks death penalty, set to appeal life sentence on two Ansaru commanders

The Department of State Services, DSS, is set to appeal the life sentence handed to two top commanders of the Ansaru terror organisation by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.

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

However, a top DSS official said the agency considers the punishment too light for the crimes allegedly committed by the men.

The official said the Service found it curious that both men initially wavered on their plea, shortly after suspected Ansaru members kidnapped pupils and teachers in Oriire, Oyo State.

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

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

According to the DSS, at the penultimate court session the two men said they were “undecided” on their plea. Justice Nwite then gave them an ultimatum to decide before Monday’s sitting.

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

The official argued that a life sentence would not serve justice for the two Oriire teachers who were 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,” he said.

The Federal High Court convicted the two senior commanders of Ansaru, an al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group, on 32 counts filed by the 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.

Justice Nwite sentenced both men to life imprisonment on counts 30 and 31. He also imposed additional 20-year prison terms on the remaining counts, with the sentences to run concurrently from the date of their arrest.