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Headline |
Federal Government Writes To India Over Arrested Nigerian ISIS Suspects
Imran Kabeer And Sani Jamiliu
The Nigerian embassy in Delhi, India, has written to the
country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to see the two Nigerians that were
arrested in Punjab recently while on their way to Pakistan, allegedly
to join the Islamic State terrorist group.
The two youths from Kano, identified as
Imran Kabeer and
Sani Jamiliu, are currently being detained by the Punjab Police in India.
The India police had arrested the two youths on suspicions that they
were on their way to join ISIS and that they attempted to enter Pakistan
without valid travel documents.
The suspects, who live in New Delhi, came to India on student visas
about a year ago. While Imran is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree at
the Karnataka State Open University, Sani is a Bachelor of Science
student of the Kerala-based Mahatma Gandhi University
The spokesman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ogbole Ahmedu-Ode,
confirmed that the Nigerian embassy officials had applied to see the
suspects to “ascertain their claim of Nigerian nationality.”
“Our embassy in India has applied for consular access to see the boys
so that we can ascertain their claim of Nigerian nationality,” he said.
In a related development, there are suspicions that the Lebanese ISIS
terrorist, Ahmed Al Assir, could have forged the Nigerian visa in order
to visit the country.
A diplomatic report shown to our correspondent on Wednesday,
indicated that Assir did not apply to the Nigerian embassy in Lebanon
for visa and that he must have forged the document.
It said there was no record anywhere that indicated that the terrorist applied for the Nigerian visa.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday reportedly ordered an
investigation into how the Lebanese got the Nigerian visa found in his
passport.
The terrorist, who had been on the wanted list of Lebanese security
forces, was arrested at the airport last Saturday while attempting to
visit Cairo, Egypt, en route to Nigeria on a forged Palestinian
passport.
The diplomatic report explained that Assir, who was of Palestinian
extraction, had undergone surgery to alter his appearance so as to evade
detection by security operatives.
He was accused of involvement in the death of 17 Lebanese soldiers and had been sentenced to death by the court in 2013.
The document further stated that the wanted terrorist had been using
different aliases to evade arrest and that his current pseudonym was not
on the watch list of the Lebanese security forces.
“Assir has been using the fake name, Rami Abdul Rahman Taleb, to
evade detection by security agencies in Lebanon. He did not apply to the
Nigerian embassy for visa, meaning that he must have forged the visa he
had on his fake passport when he was arrested with his companion,
Khaled Sidani, at the airport,” it stated.
Ahmedu-Ode said, “investigation is ongoing” to determine how the terrorist came about the Nigerian visa.
Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters on Wednesday denied media reports
that over 150 people from Kukuwa-Gari village were shot dead by Boko
Haram gunmen in Yobe State.
The DHQ said troops indeed killed four Boko Haram members in a gunfight after the insurgents ran into a military ambush.
A statement by the acting Director, Defence Information, Col. Rabe
Abubakar, in Abuja pleaded with the media to always seek clarifications
on their information before publishing.
Abubakar’s statement read, “The truth of the matter is that the
military got an intelligence report concerning a planned attack by Boko
Haram on Kukuwa-Gari Village in Yobe State. Following the tip-off,
troops and civilian JTF laid ambush between Kukuwatashi and Kukuwa-Gari
villages.
“The insurgents ran into them and a gun battle ensued in which four
Boko Haram members and one civilian JTF lost their lives. At the end of
the encounter, two AK 47 rifles and two motorcycles used by the Boko
Haram terrorists were recovered from them.
“The military is doing all within its power to protect lives and
property of Nigerians in any part of the country and thus, solicits
cooperation and understanding of the media to be partners in progress in
this noble ta
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