ISIS plans to recruit Nigerians studying abroad, FG raises the alarm

THE Federal Government has raised the alarm over plans by the terrorist group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to recruit foreign students, including Nigerians studying abroad, into their organisation using financial inducement.

The government has, therefore, urged parents and guardians whose children and wards are studying abroad to monitor their activities in order to prevent them from being recruited by the group.

In a statement issued in Abuja, on Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, cited the recent recruitment into ISIS of 27 medical students of the University of Medical Sciences and Technology (UMST) in Sudan as an example of the new strategy being used by the organisation to recruit more members.

The minister, quoting a report received by the Nigerian Intelligence Community, said 22 of the 27 students, who travelled to Syria to join ISIS, was 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 United Kingdom. Their social media accounts also revealed them as praising Jihadists and championing ISIS’ cause,’’ he said.

Alhaji Mohammed, therefore, appealed to Nigerians, especially those who have children and wards in foreign academic institutions, to pay more attention to their activities, while urging schools across the country to enlighten their students on ISIS’ new recruitment strategy.