NIGERIANS IN CYPRUS PROTEST

Some Nigerian students have called on the federal government to stop citizens from travelling to Iran to study.

The students under the aegis of African Students in Cyprus alleged that Nigerian youths end up radicalized when the travel to Iran.

The students during a protest against terrorism and extremism at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus said Nigeria will face future risks if measures are not taken to stop these radicalization.

Also, the president of the African students Jeremiah Omadachi speaking during the protest said some Nigerians travel to Iran under the guise of studying are shipped to other countries like Yemen and Somalia.

In addition, the students also warned the federal government and its foreign affairs ministry against threat of radicalization of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.


“As Africans living here in Cyprus, we have followed events in Nigeria and must confess that we have great concerns about the growing sectarian division there. The names of several sects are coming up in the daily accounts being rendered online but the name of Shiite sect, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has remained a constant,” Omadachi said.

“We are aware through contacts with other communities and nationals here that the cover that IMN and Iran use is to make youths pretend they are travelling to get education.

“The frightening reality however is that young Nigerians that travel to Iran end up being radicalized and indoctrinated into extremism. There has been indications that they are also getting military training provided by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

He also said President Muhammadu Buhari and other African leaders must do everything possible to prevent Iran from expanding the Middle East crisis to Africa by using IMN as a front.

Omadachi said the Islamic Republic must be told in very clear terms that it should sort out its problems with its regional neighbours and not attempt opening a new front in its war of attrition in Nigeria.

“Our continent is too dear to us to keep quiet while Iran stokes the fire of sectarian strife.
“We appeal to the Nigerian government to immediately mount an enlightenment campaign that would educate Nigerian youths on the danger of travelling to Iran of all places in the erroneous impression that they will get useful education. They must be told of the reality of the harrowing experiences of those that have made the perilous journey.

“Some of the youths who think they will be getting education as professionals have ended up finding themselves as unwilling recruit into the Iranian terror infrastructure. Some have died in the course of being trained as terrorists while those that managed to return home to Nigeria often discover they have been fashioned into misfits,” Omadachi said.

https://www.naij.com/1020956-tension-nigerian-students-protest-cyprus-photo.html

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