Following intelligence reports showing that students attending foreign institutions are now targets of ISIS recruitment, the Nigerian Government has called on parents and guardians to monitor the activities of their children and wards.
This is with a view to preventing them from being recruited by the Islamic State of Levant otherwise known as ISIS.
A statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Monday 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 organization to recruit more members.
He warned that the terrorist group has now resorted to targetting vulnerable individuals, including foreign students, using financial inducements to recruit them into the terrorist organization.
The Minister, quoting a report received by the Nigerian Intelligence Community, said 22 of the 27 students, who travelled to Syria to join ISIS are British.
The report disclosed that 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 appealed to Nigerians, especially those who have children and wards in foreign academic institutions, to pay more attention to their activities.
He urged schools across the country to enlighten their students on the new ISIS’ recruitment strategy.
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