The governments of the United States of America (USA) and United Kingdom, yesterday commended the Federal Government of Nigeria and the security agencies under the leadership of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, over the arrest of wanted leaders of the Ansaru terror organisation.

The US and the UK authorities issued the commendations in separate tweets on X (formerly Twitter). Mahmud Muhammad Usman, popularly called Abu Bara’a, and Mahmud al-Nigeri, also called Mallam Mamuda, both globally wanted, were arrested last week in a major counter-terrorism operation.

The National Security Adviser (NSA), Ribadu, who announced their arrest on Saturday, described it as a “huge breakthrough” in the war against violent extremism.

The US Mission in Nigeria, who praised security forces for capturing the hoodlums, emphasised that the arrests reflect the country’s growing capacity to counter extremist networks while contributing to broader regional stability. It said on its X handle: “We commend the Nigerian Government and security forces on the successful arrest of wanted #Ansaru leaders, Mahmud Muhammad Usman (aka Abu Bara’a) and Mahmud al-Nigeri (aka Mallam Mamuda).

This is a significant forward in Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and extremism.” And a post by the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, on X on his handle, @RMontgomeryUK read: “An extraordinary & very significant success. A major step forward in the fight against terrorism. Congratulations to the security agencies & officers involved under the leadership of NSA Ribadu.”

Meanwhile, a young son of Boko Haram’s founder has been arrested in Chad, where he was allegedly leading a jihadist cell, according to both an intelligence source and a former insurgent, AFP reports. Muslim Mohammed Yusuf was arrested alongside five other suspected members of the movement, which was founded in neighbouring Nigeria a few years before his birth by his father, radical preacher Mohammed Yusuf.

The Islamist group has sown terror around the Lake Chad region for around 15 years, and has mounted increasingly brazen attacks on villages and military bases in recent months.

A Nigerian intelligence source in the Lake Chad region told AFP at the weekend that they received a report of the arrest of a six-man jihadist cell in Chad.

The source added that Yusuf was an infant when his father was killed in 2009 during a military crackdown on Boko Haram that left some 800 people dead, giving his age as 18.

Photos seen by AFP after the arrests in Chad, show a young, short and slender man in a blue tracksuit — with a striking resemblance to Yusuf — standing next to far older men. Yusuf, who goes by the alias Abdrahman Mahamat Abdoulaye, is the younger brother of ISWAP leader Habib Yusuf, alias Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.

A former lieutenant of Yusuf’s father, who has denounced Boko Haram but has knowledge of the group’s inner workings, also said Yusuf had been arrested. “He and the team were arrested by Chadian security. They are six in number,” he told AFP.