Two Nigerians arrested in India on their way to joining ISIS

PUNJAB, India  Two young Nigerians suspected to be on their way to joining the Islamic State (ISIS)  terror gang were yesterday  arrested at the volatile  India-Pakistan border  after  scaling a barbed wire fence near the  border .

ATTARI: Nigerian nationals Sani Jamiliu (right) and Imran Kabeer (left) who were apprehended by BSF after they were spotted close to Indo-Pak border fence in Attari…yesterday.

Alert Border Security Force (BSF) troopers apprehended  Imran Kabeer and Sani Jamiliu both from Kano  and later handed them over to Punjab Police.

The  suspects  aged around 24-25  told BSF officials they wanted to go to Pakistan and later to Iraq.

They carried no valid travel documents to enter Pakistan.

Both youths arrived in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, 30 km from Punjab , on Thursday from Delhi in a hired taxi. They argued with the taxi driver on Thursday night, hoodwinked him and drove away his Swift Dzire car. They arrived at the integrated checkpoint at Attari  yesterday  morning.

“On finding the border gates closed, the youths moved towards a barbed wire fence along the Attari-Wagah rail track (on which the Samjhauta Express peace train between both countries plies) and jumped over the high barbed wire fence, thinking they had entered Pakistan. BSF personnel immediately nabbed them,” a BSF official said.

BSF Amritsar sector deputy inspector general M.F. Farooqui confirmed the arrest.

The entire 553-km international border between India and Pakistan in Punjab is on high alert following the July 27 terror attack on Dinanagar town in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district by Pakistani terrorists. Security is also tight in view of the coming Independence Day on August 15.

Since the youths claimed their final destination was Iraq, security officials  said they could be headed to join the Islamic State terror outfit.

Both youths came to India on student visas about a year ago. While Imran is doing BBA from the Mysuru-based Karnataka State Open University, Sani is a BSc third semester student of the Kerala-based Mahatama Gandhi University. Both were residing in Delhi.

Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutalab was arrested on Christmas Day,2009 aboard North West  Airlines Flight 253 from Amsterdam  to Detroit,Michigan following his attempt to blow up the plane.

He was found to be carrying plastic explosives in his underwear.

He was subsequently tried  and convicted by a US Federal Court on an eight count charge including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.

Farouk was sentenced on February 16,2012 to four life terms plus 50 years without parole.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula claimed,as the  trial got underway, that it trained the convict and supplied him with the explosives.

Two Nigerians arrested in India on their way to joining ISIS