University students facilitating terror attacks Intelligence

The government has called upon all university heads to be more vigilant within the institutions after intelligent reports revealed that terrorists are now infiltrating universities seeking to radicalize and recruit varsity students.

This comes as the National Intelligence Service confirmed that majority of those used by the Al Shabaab militia group are students from various universities within the country.

Speaking at a stakeholder’s consultative meeting on sustainable peace and security in universities that brought together the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior and the universities’ management, the government has called on universities to be more vigilant in handling the students whom the terror world has trained its guns on as a soft target.

“These terrorists have turned their attention to our students since they are not armed,” said Major (Rtd.) Gen. Joseph Nkaissery, the Interior Cabinet Secretary.

In matters radicalization both Education CS Prof. Jacob Kaimenyi and Nkaissery were quick to add that terror funders are now focusing on students taking the best brains to further their heinous agenda.

“We need to discuss the security situation in our universities and identify our possible weaknesses and chart a way forward,” said Kaimenyi.

The Interior CS added; “Radicalization is one of our biggest problem in our institutions and we need to deal with it the best way possible.”

According to the National Intelligence Service most of those used by the Al Shabaab terror group in the recent past have been top students from various universities within the country and institutions from neighbouring countries.

NIS named Ahmed Iman, who is the head of video and propaganda within the Al Shabaab, as a student of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Lukeman Osman Isa, who participated in the recent Boure attack, as a student in a Ugandan university, Abdulrahaman Abdulahi, who was among the attackers at Garissa University, was a student at the University of Nairobi.

Others named include Sadil Abdalla, a 3rd year university student International University of Africa School of Medicine and was arrested on his way to Somalia, and Abdul Hajira, who had disappeared for more than a year and then resurfaced to finish his Bachelor of Commerce degree at University of Nairobi. Hajira blew himself at the Pangani police station killing two police officers.

According to Nkaissery, the government is at an advanced stage of holding talks with the necessary stakeholders on how to bring into law the facilitation of arming private security officers who will be a supplement to the government security.

Report by Michael Njenga