The Pakistani and Indian high commissioners to Nigeria have disagreed over reports that the two Nigerian students, who were arrested on August 7 in India, were on their way to join the terrorist group Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS).
The Punch reports that Ajjampur Ghanashyam, the Indian high
commissioner, insisted that the two youths from Kano, Imran Kabeer and
Sani Jamiliu, were on their way to Pakistan to join ISIS. However,
Lieutenant General Agha Farooq (retd.), the Pakistani high commissioner,
disagreed with his counterpart and described the report as false.
Farooq stressed that the students could not breach the Indian/Pakistani borders, which were fortified with armed soldiers, underground mines and electrified barbed wire.
According to Farooq, the allegation against the youths was an attempt to demonize them “just because they are Nigerian Muslims.”
In a recent interview, Ghanashyam has told journalists that the high commission was worried that radicalised Nigerian students may abandon their studies in India and travel out to join the ISIS.
Ghanashyam noted that since the arrest of the two Nigerians, visa requirements have not changed, adding that the mission, however, is more careful about visa issuance to applicants.
“Visa requirements have been on the web, everybody knows, but you see, you can’t locate the mind of a man to find out what his intentions are. If he has an admission letter from our school, and you have seen it with your own eyes, then you will give him visa, but now you have to think twice.
“You don’t know, but now we believe we are taken for a ride, but now you have to go back and tell them to look after these boys and girls and make sure they don’t go out here and there, to make sure they finish their course and board a plane to go back to Nigeria.
“The mission will be more careful. Usually, we give visas to about 10 to 15% of applicants and this may further be reviewed,” he said.
Commenting on the arrest of the two boys, the high commissioner said that they were issued visas because they had all necessary documents including letters of admission from an Indian institution.
“These two boys from Kano said they wanted to study in Bangalore, we believed them and gave them student visas. They went to Bangalore last September. They spent one year, then they decided to go to ISIS, and they were trapped near the Pakistani border.
“I hope they are the exception and aberration, not the trend. I hope it would be the last of their kind. We have an association of close to 30,000 Nigerians who have graduated from India and we have 5,900 of students who are studying in India, it is quite worrying that if they go to India and from there, they go to ISIS, we would have a big issue on our hands,” he said.
However, the Pakistani ambassador dismissed the allegations against Nigerian students who were arrested by Border Security Force personnel in Punjab, India.
Farooq stressed that it was practically impossible for students to join ISIS by going through Pakistan because they would have to pass through three countries to reach Syria.
“From the pictures of the borders, you can see that there is no way the students could enter Pakistan from India because the border is well guarded with soldiers and other high-tech gadgets and it is controlled by India.
“The report that the Nigerian students were going to join ISIS is a hoax; how come it was reported by only Indian media? They just want to demonise the students because they are Nigerian Muslims,” he added.
Imran Kabeer and Sani Jamiliu.
Farooq stressed that the students could not breach the Indian/Pakistani borders, which were fortified with armed soldiers, underground mines and electrified barbed wire.
According to Farooq, the allegation against the youths was an attempt to demonize them “just because they are Nigerian Muslims.”
In a recent interview, Ghanashyam has told journalists that the high commission was worried that radicalised Nigerian students may abandon their studies in India and travel out to join the ISIS.
Ghanashyam noted that since the arrest of the two Nigerians, visa requirements have not changed, adding that the mission, however, is more careful about visa issuance to applicants.
“Visa requirements have been on the web, everybody knows, but you see, you can’t locate the mind of a man to find out what his intentions are. If he has an admission letter from our school, and you have seen it with your own eyes, then you will give him visa, but now you have to think twice.
“You don’t know, but now we believe we are taken for a ride, but now you have to go back and tell them to look after these boys and girls and make sure they don’t go out here and there, to make sure they finish their course and board a plane to go back to Nigeria.
“The mission will be more careful. Usually, we give visas to about 10 to 15% of applicants and this may further be reviewed,” he said.
Commenting on the arrest of the two boys, the high commissioner said that they were issued visas because they had all necessary documents including letters of admission from an Indian institution.
“These two boys from Kano said they wanted to study in Bangalore, we believed them and gave them student visas. They went to Bangalore last September. They spent one year, then they decided to go to ISIS, and they were trapped near the Pakistani border.
“I hope they are the exception and aberration, not the trend. I hope it would be the last of their kind. We have an association of close to 30,000 Nigerians who have graduated from India and we have 5,900 of students who are studying in India, it is quite worrying that if they go to India and from there, they go to ISIS, we would have a big issue on our hands,” he said.
However, the Pakistani ambassador dismissed the allegations against Nigerian students who were arrested by Border Security Force personnel in Punjab, India.
Farooq stressed that it was practically impossible for students to join ISIS by going through Pakistan because they would have to pass through three countries to reach Syria.
“From the pictures of the borders, you can see that there is no way the students could enter Pakistan from India because the border is well guarded with soldiers and other high-tech gadgets and it is controlled by India.
“The report that the Nigerian students were going to join ISIS is a hoax; how come it was reported by only Indian media? They just want to demonise the students because they are Nigerian Muslims,” he added.
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