National Security: Nigerian Govt Alerts Citizens On New ISIS Recruitment Strategy

Nigeria's minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, urges parents and guardians to monitor the activities of their children and wards to prevent them from being recruited by ISIS.

Lai Mohammed opined that the Nigerian intelligence community recently got a report on ISIS recruitment strategy.

The federal government has disclosed that terrorist group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), was now targeting vulnerable individuals, including foreign students, using financial inducements to recruit them into the organisation. 

The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed made the disclosure in a statement on Monday, April 3. He therefore urged parents and guardians to monitor the activities of their children and wards in order to prevent them from being recruited by the group. Mohammed made reference the recent recruitment into ISIS of 27 medical students of the University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Sudan as an example of the new strategy being used by the organisation to recruit more members. The minister, citing a report which he said was received by the Nigerian intelligence community, said “22 of the 27 students, who travelled to Syria to join ISIS, are Britons.” 

“According to the report, the students were recruited by one Mohammed Fakhri Al-khabbas, a former UMST student from Middlesborough, United Kingdom. 

“Many of the students are children of reputable doctors in the UK. Their Social Media accounts also revealed them as praising Jihadists and championing ISIS’ cause,” Mohammed said. 

The minister appealed to Nigerians, especially those who have children and wards in foreign academic institutions, to pay more attention to their activities. He also urged schools across the country to enlighten their students on the new ISIS’ recruitment strategy.

Culled from: AIT