The most wanted Ansaru terrorist leader, Abu Baraa, who is accused of planning multiple high-profile assaults in Nigeria, has been taken into custody by the country’s security authorities.
At a special press briefing held on Saturday at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre in Abuja, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu made the announcement.
With intelligence leaders and service chiefs at his sides, Ribadu disclosed that security operatives had been pursuing Baraa since May till his eventual detention in July.
He said that the arrest represented a significant advance in the war against terrorism.
According to the NSA, the Ansaru group’s increasing encroachment in Nigeria made Baraa’s trial necessary.
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“I am happy to notify you that we have successfully completed a high-risk, intelligence-led counterterrorism operation that resulted in the capture of the top leadership of Nigeria’s Al-Qaeda affiliate, Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan, also known as ANSARU,” he added.
The group was initially established in Kano in January 2012 through a public announcement. As a breakaway group from Boko Haram, it positioned itself as a “humane alternative.”
But its declared goal soon shifted to attacking government buildings, civilian areas, and Nigerian security personnel.
The group’s open use of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb’s (AQIM) setting sun insignia demonstrated its operational and doctrinal affinities with international jihadist forces.
“Over the years, Ansaru established itself in both urban sleeper cells and forest enclaves, primarily in the vicinity of Kainji National Park, which spans Niger, Kwara, and the Benin Republic, as well as in a number of northern Nigerian cities.”
