Nigeria arrests leaders of high-profile terror group

Nigerian officials said on Aug. 16 they had arrested the alleged leaders of a jihadist group accused of several high-profile attacks including a 2022 brazen jailbreak in the capital Abuja that temporarily freed hundreds of inmates.

Nigeria's National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, told journalists that Mahmud Muhammad Usman and Mahmud al-Nigeri had been captured during a "targeted operation" between May and July.

He said they were the leaders of Jama'atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan, commonly known as Ansaru.

President Bola Tinubu's spokesman Bayo Onanuga described the capture in a social media post as a "significant breakthrough in the war against terrorism."

The group was also accused of blowing up rail tracks and raiding a train traveling from the capital Abuja to the northwestern city of Kaduna also in 2022. Eight people were killed and dozens more kidnapped and held for months.

They "have been on Nigeria's most-wanted list for years" and were also on international wanted lists, said Ribadu.

"They jointly spearheaded multiple attacks on civilians, security forces, and critical infrastructure," he added.

The arrests mark a breakthrough in the West African nation's decade-and-half long battle against jihadists in the northeast, and, more recently, against criminal gangs behind kidnappings for ransom in central and northwestern regions.