Nigerian officials said Saturday 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 travelling from the capital Abuja to the northwe

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