The Nigeria Immigration Service has revealed that a syndicate is behind the recruitment of young Nigerians for the terrorist group, Islamic State of Syria and Iraq because Nigeria is a catchment area for recruitment due to the high level of unemployment.
NIS Public Relations Officer, Emeka Obua told Punch that the syndicate is profiling travellers to identify radicalised citizens planning to join terrorist groups abroad.
Obua said Nigeria is a catchment area for recruiters because of the high number of jobless people in the country. The terrorist group has a syndicate that arrange travel documents, visas, ticket and money for their recruits. To counter this, the NIS now engages in intense profiling of travellers.
“We have always had problems of Nigerians going abroad for greener pasture. We look at the age of the intending traveller and the person he is travelling with, put them by the side and profile them thoroughly. What are their intentions for going abroad? Where are they going?”
He added that NIS is working with other security agencies to apprehend members of the syndicate.
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