The Department of State Services (DSS) has re-apprehended Abdulazeez Obadaki, the alleged mastermind of the deadly 2022 bank raids in Uromi, Edo State.
According to the agency, Obadaki had been on the run since escaping during the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre jailbreak in 2022.
He is also linked to the attack on Deeper Life College in Okene, Kogi State, where multiple people were shot.
His recapture comes almost three months after National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu announced the arrest of two senior leaders of the Ansaru terrorist organisation.
In an earlier briefing, Ribadu identified the previously arrested figures as:
- Mahmud Muhammad Usman (Abu Baraa/Abbas/Mukhtar) – described as the self-proclaimed Emir of Ansaru and coordinator of several terrorist sleeper cells nationwide. Security agencies believe he has overseen major kidnappings and armed robberies used to fund terrorist activities.
- Mahmud al-Nigeri (Mallam Mamuda) – Abu Baraa’s deputy and head of the “Mahmudawa” cell operating around Kainji National Park, stretching from Niger and Kwara States into Benin Republic. Ribadu noted that Mamuda received training in Libya from 2013 to 2015 under North African jihadist instructors, specialising in weapons handling and IED construction.
The NSA had revealed that both men had long been on Nigeria’s most-wanted list due to their roles in numerous attacks on civilians, security agencies, and strategic facilities.
Their alleged operations include:
- The 2022 Kuje prison break
- The attack on a Niger uranium facility
- The 2013 abduction of French engineer Francis Collomp in Katsina
- The 2019 kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, the Magajin Garin Daura
Obadaki’s re-arrest adds to the series of recent breakthroughs security agencies claim to have made against the Ansaru network.
