{"id":836,"date":"2025-08-23T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836"},"modified":"2025-08-23T04:17:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T04:17:43","slug":"us-uk-hail-nigeria-over-arrest-of-ansaru-terrorist-kingpins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836","title":{"rendered":"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday commended the Federal Government and its security agencies for the successful arrest of two senior leaders of the terrorist group Jama\u2019atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan, also known as Ansaru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The arrests were confirmed by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who described the development as the result of a \u201chigh-risk, intelligence-led, counter-terrorism operation\u201d carried out between May and July 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Yemi Alade - Tomorrow (Official Music Video)\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/G4u2yMsPdG8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The individuals apprehended include Mahmud Usman, identified as the self-styled Emir of Ansaru.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the NSA, Usman served as the coordinator of numerous terrorist sleeper cells across the country and was behind several high-profile kidnappings and armed robberies used to fund the group\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His deputy, Mahmud al-Nigeri, led the group\u2019s \u201cMahmudawa\u201d cell, which was said to be active around the Kainji National Park area, spanning Niger and Kwara states and extending into neighboring Benin Republic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the arrests, the US Embassy in Nigeria issued a statement via its official X handle, describing the operation as a major step in Nigeria\u2019s ongoing efforts to combat terrorism and extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The embassy praised the Nigerian security forces and described the arrests as a significant achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The post read, \u201cWe commend the Nigerian government and security forces on the successful arrest of wanted #Ansaru leaders, Mahmud Muhammad Usman (aka Abu Bara\u2019a) and Mahmud al-Nigeri (aka Mallam Mamuda).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis is a significant forward in Nigeria\u2019s fight against terrorism and extremism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, also took to X to describe the operation as an extraordinary and very significant success, commending the security agencies and their leadership under the NSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAn extraordinary &amp; very significant success. A major step forward in the fight against terrorism. Congratulations to the security agencies &amp; officers involved under the leadership of NSA Ribadu,\u201d Montgomery noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Federal Government, the arrested terrorist leaders, who were internationally wanted, are now in custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ansaru, formed in January 2012 as a splinter group from Boko Haram, presented itself as a more \u201chumane\u201d alternative but quickly turned to violent attacks on civilians, security forces, and infrastructure. The group aligned ideologically with global jihadist movements, particularly Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and established a presence in urban cells and forest enclaves, especially around Kainji National Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two key figures from Ansaru, long on Nigeria\u2019s most-wanted list, led several major attacks, including the 2022 Kuje prison break, a uranium facility attack, and high-profile kidnappings such as that of French engineer Francis Collomp and traditional leader Alhaji Musa Uba. They also had strong ties with terrorist groups across the Maghreb. <a href=\"https:\/\/punchng.com\/us-uk-hail-nigeria-over-arrest-of-ansaru-terrorist-kingpins\/\">(Punch)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday commended the Federal Government and its security agencies for the successful arrest of two senior leaders of the terrorist group Jama\u2019atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan, also known as Ansaru. The arrests were confirmed by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, who described the development as the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1049,1052,278,1051,1050,1048,1053,400,85,57],"class_list":["post-836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-ansaru","tag-extremism","tag-federal-government","tag-mahmud-al-nigeri","tag-mahmud-usman","tag-nuhu-ribadu","tag-security-agencies","tag-terrorism","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins - Tona Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday commended the Federal Government and its security agencies for the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins - Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday commended the Federal Government and its security agencies for the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-23T11:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"678\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"452\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\"},\"headline\":\"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-23T11:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836\"},\"wordCount\":461,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Ansaru\",\"extremism\",\"Federal Government\",\"Mahmud al-Nigeri\",\"Mahmud Usman\",\"Nuhu Ribadu\",\"security agencies\",\"terrorism\",\"United Kingdom\",\"United States\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836\",\"name\":\"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins - Tona Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-23T11:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday commended the Federal Government and its security agencies for the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg\",\"width\":678,\"height\":452},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=836#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":117,\"caption\":\"Tona Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\",\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tona.Today\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins - Tona Today","description":"The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday commended the Federal Government and its security agencies for the","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins - Tona Today","og_description":"The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday commended the Federal Government and its security agencies for the","og_url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836","og_site_name":"Tona Today","article_published_time":"2025-08-23T11:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":678,"height":452,"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tona.Today","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tona.Today","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836"},"author":{"name":"Tona.Today","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477"},"headline":"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins","datePublished":"2025-08-23T11:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836"},"wordCount":461,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg","keywords":["Ansaru","extremism","Federal Government","Mahmud al-Nigeri","Mahmud Usman","Nuhu Ribadu","security agencies","terrorism","United Kingdom","United States"],"articleSection":["Nigeria"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836","name":"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins - Tona Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-08-23T11:00:00+00:00","description":"The United States and the United Kingdom on Monday commended the Federal Government and its security agencies for the","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Nuhu-Ribadu.jpeg","width":678,"height":452},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=836#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tona.today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US, UK hail Nigeria over arrest of Ansaru terrorist kingpins"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","name":"Tona Today","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization","name":"Tona Today","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","width":500,"height":117,"caption":"Tona Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477","name":"Tona.Today","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tona.Today"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tona.today"],"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?author=2"}]}},"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836\/revisions\/838"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}