Date Published: 12/28/09

ABDULMUTALLAB: A SILVERSPOON KID TURNED TERRORIST (1) By Temple Chima Ubochi

A sense of proportion and humanitarian action are not issues for terrorists. Their aim is that of killing and destroying (Boris Yeltsin)

Terrorist activity is continually recurring in various parts of the world, sowing death and destruction and plunging many of our brothers and sisters into grief and despair. (Pope Benedict XVI)

There's no one thing that is going to make flying 100 per cent safe. What you want to do is to cover many bases and overlap the security measures (Douglas Laird, aviation security analyst)

Part 1 of this article would start with some quotes which justify the actions of the terrorists. It’s good to read the mind of each terrorist who strikes or plans to strike anywhere:

Hasan al-Banna wrote that “The supreme martyrdom is only conferred on those who slay or are slain in the way of God. As death is inevitable and can happen only once, partaking in jihad is profitable in this world and the next” (Five Tracts of Hasan al-Banna (1906-1949): A Selection from the Majmu'at Rasa'il al-Imam al-Shahid, 1978)

Ahmad Abu Halabiya wrote: “Allah, deal with the Jews, your enemies and the enemies of Islam. Deal with the crusaders, and America, and Europe behind them, O Lord of the worlds”. (Ahmad Abu Halabiya, Palestinian cleric, member of the Palestinian Authority, and one-time rector of the Islamic University in Gaza. Sermon delivered in the Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan mosque and broadcast on Palestinian Authority television in October, 2000. Quoted from: Anti-American Terrorism and the Middle East: A Documentary Reader, 2002)

Ruhollah Khomeini wrote: “Those who study jihad will understand why Islam wants to conquer the whole world. All the countries conquered by Islam or to be conquered in the future will be marked for everlasting salvation. For they shall live under God's law” (Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: Islam Is Not a Religion of Pacifists (1942))

Ruhollah Khomeini also wrote: “Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those are witless. Islam says: Kill all the unbelievers just as they would kill you all! Does this mean that Muslims should sit back until they are devoured by the unbelievers? Islam says: Kill them, put them to the sword and scatter their armies. ...Islam says: Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! The sword is the key to paradise, which can be opened only for holy warriors!” (Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: Islam Is Not a Religion of Pacifists (1942))

Ruhollah Khomeini wrote: “The great prophet of Islam in one hand carried the Koran and in the other a sword; the sword for crushing the traitors and the Koran for guidance. For those who could be guided, the Koran was their means of guidance, while as for those who could not be guided and were plotters, the sword descended on their heads. ...Islam is a religion of blood for the infidels but a religion of guidance for the other people” (Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: Speech delivered at the Feyziyeh Theological School (August 24, 1979))

Osama bin Laden said: “To push the enemy - the greatest kufr - out of the country is a prime duty. No other duty after Belief is more important than this duty. Utmost effort should be made to prepare and instigate the umma [community of Muslims] against the enemy, the American-Israeli alliance - occupying the country of the two Holy Places...” (Declaration of War, published in al-Quds al-Arabi, and Iraqi newspaper published in London: August, 1996)

Osama bin Laden also said: “Every Muslim, the minute he can start differentiating, carries hate towards Americans, Jews, and Christians; this is part of our ideology. Ever since I can recall I felt at war with the Americans and had feelings of animosity and hate toward them” (Interview broadcast on al-Jazira television. December, 1998)

Sayyid Qutb wrote: “Those who say that Islamic jihad was merely for the defense of the "homeland of Islam" diminish the greatness of the Islamic way of life. ...This is not the Islamic point of view, and ...it is the creation of the modern age and is completely alien to Islamic consciousness” ("Paving the Way," Milestones (1955))

David Zeidan wrote: “It [The Islamist political movement, Islamic fundamentalism, or Islamism] is partly a reaction to the severe crises of modernity converging with the rise of charismatic prophetic leaders. It is both a religious reform movement and a political ideology that includes a social element of protest by have-nots against an oppressive order, as well as a counter-attack on secularism, which has reduced the power of religion in recent decades” (The Islamist View of Life as a Perennial Battle," Middle East Review of International Affairs, 5, no. 4 (December 2001))

After reading the above excerpts, it’s no more hard to understand what informs the behaviours of terrorists and fundamentalists all over the world. Extremism is a threat to world peace and the continuous existence of mankind.

TO THE TOPIC: The joy of Christmas permeates everywhere and gets to both the Christians and Moslems alike. The celebration is for all and the Moslems enjoy it all like the Christians, during Christmas, except going to churches and proclaiming that “A king is born”. While the world was celebrating the last christmas, little did we know that one of our own was planning evil; little did we know that a Nigerian was planning to kill hundreds of people; little did we know that one of our own have decided to fight the Taliban war for them, by turning into a terrorist. How did things go wrong: How come that a scion of one of the “owners of Nigeria” decided to deviate; how come that one of those being groomed to lead Nigeria, as they are the “owners of Nigeria”, decided to be a terrorist and not a “crown prince”; how come that a scion of one of the richest and influential Nigerians, was planning to kill some people, hundreds of feet above the ground?

It would have been a tragic Christmas for the 278 passengers and the 11 crew members onboard Northwest Airline flight 253, but for luck and the quick intervention of some passengers and crew members. Reports have it that the suspect, 23-year-old Nigerian, Farouk Abdulmutallab, boarded the plane from Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands. He had earlier boarded a KLM flight from Lagos to Amsterdam and connected to the Detroit-bound flight from there. We learnt that the flight would have been uneventful, but for the incident that occurred 20 minutes from landing as the plane made its descent towards Detroit Metropolitan Airport. A loud popping sound alerted passengers that there was something amiss as they reported seeing smoke and fire. The would-be-bomber was screaming and swearing and mentioning Afghanistan. It was at that point that a young man jumped several seats and tackled the suspect, holding him in a lock grip. He then dragged him forward towards the front of the plane. Early analysis by the FBI reveals that the substance discovered on the accused is PETN also known as Pentaerythritol, a very explosive substance. The man credited with foiling the bomber is Dutch director, Jasper Schuringa. He said when he heard the first explosion; he turned and saw Abdulmutallab with his pants (Trousers) down and something between his legs which was already on fire. In Schuringa words: “I pulled the object from him and tried to extinguish the fire with my hands and threw it away. My hands are pretty burned. I am fine.”

The incident was reminiscent of Richard Reid, who tried to destroy a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes, but was subdued by other passengers.

According to information, Farouk Abdulmutallab personally checked in at about 2035 local time in Lagos; his passport was issued on Sept 15, 2005 to expire Sept 14, 2010 with passport number A3921640. His multiple entry US visa was issued in London, UK, on June 16, 2008 to expire June 2010; his original ticket bought in Accra for USD 2,831, was cancelled and re-issued on the same December 16, 2009; the original routing was Lagos -Amsterdam- Detroit- Amsterdam- Accra, but he later changed it to Lagos- Amsterdam- Detroit- Lagos. The return journey was booked for January 8, 2010 out of Detroit to arrive Lagos on January 9, 2010.

Farouk was born in 1986. He spent most of his formative years outside Nigeria and can best be described as British-educated. He had his secondary education at British School of Lome, Togo, a school established 25 years ago to cater for the needs of British expatriates in the West African country. The school currently has students from about 37 different countries and caters for students between ages 3-18. While there, Abdul Mutallab became known for his radical views. After graduation, he relocated to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. His radical tendencies took another dimension and became increasingly disturbing to his parents who tried to call him to order, according to family sources. He was admitted into the University College, London in 2005 as a student of Mechanical engineering, a programme that would have ended in June, 2008.

The young Mutallab was living in £4million house in London. We’re told that his last known address is a four million pounds house in Central London, where Metropolitan Police have been conducting investigations. We also learnt that the father and the family have houses all over the world including one in Baltimore area of the State of Maryland. This writer agrees with the person who asked: “How did Mr Mutallab acquire money to buy the place? Cattle rearing, banking? What sort of banker was he and what was his salary? Without oil in eastern Nigeria, these people would be no better than their brothers in Chad and Niger Republics. Look at Aba Ngwa and look at where this twat was living. Will Nigerian government seize this property? When will this abomination be pulled?”

We learnt that the would-be-bomber was screaming and swearing and mentioning Afghanistan. How did he decide to fight a war that did not concern him or fight injustice in another land? If he wanted to fight for the downtrodden, he should have picked up his fight in Nigeria. His father is one of those who kept Nigeria the way it’s today; his father is one of the reasons we have more than 20 million beggars in the northern part of Nigeria. While these beggars, most of them children and young people, have no access to education, his father continued to waste his stole wealth on him, by sending him to an elite secondary school outside Nigeria and the elite University College London. Not only that, he was also given a house with a price tag of 4 million pounds and huge amount of money to spend around. That was why the would-be-bomber was able to travel to everywhere, even Yemen, where he picked up the assignment to kill his fellow human beings. So this would-be-bomber, should have known that his father is one of the reasons why there are army of unemployed in Nigeria, leading young people to engage in kidnapping and armed robbery to be a bit like his father. The would-be-bomber should have known that while the Niger Delta is burning, its environment being degraded due to oil exploration, that his father and his class of “owners of Nigeria”, are reaping the benefits of the oil drilling and export, while the people from whose land the oil is extracted, are suffering the negative effects of the exploration without much to show for their sufferings. Afterall, Katsina, his home state, is hundreds of miles away from the oil rigs in the Niger Delta.

What the would-be-bomber should have done, if he really cares for the poor and wants change, was to take his bomb to Aso Rock and the National Assembly, since these two symbols of power are not useful to Nigerians, rather these are the places where “they” congregate to share our commonwealth amongst themselves while mortgaging our future and that of generations to come. Isn’t it hypocritical for Abdulmutallab to be fighting for Afghanistan while at home, the conditions in Afghanistan are also obtainable?

Let’s see who his father is: His father is a veteran Chairman of the Board of First Bank Plc. Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab formally retired from the position on December 13, 2009 after serving on the Board for thirteen years. Mutallab was appointed to the Board of First Bank in 1996 and became its Chairman in 1999. He also served as Chief Accountant/Acting General Manager, Defence Industries Corporation in Kaduna. He was also the Financial Controller of the company. He rose to become the General Manager, New Nigeria Development Company Limited (NNDC) from 1968 to 1975. In 1975, he was appointed as Federal Commissioner (i.e. Minister) for Economic Development & Reconstruction and was re-assigned to the Federal Ministry of Cooperatives & Supply in 1976.He was a member, Federal Executive Council from 1976 to 1978. He left to serve as Executive Vice Chairman/Managing Director, United Bank for Africa (UBA) up till 1988.Mutallab also served on the boards of several companies such as Arewa Textiles Limited, NEPA, NACB, NCC, Nigeria Agip Oil, and the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria [CCNN]. He is currently Chairman of several companies, including Impresit Bakolori Plc, Incar Nigeria Plc and Spring Waters Nigeria Limited (SWAN). He is also Chairman, Business Support Group of the Vision 202020.Alhaji Mutallab is currently heading the soon-to-take-off Jaiz Bank, a purely Islamic bank, and he would sit on the board with Rilwanu Lukman, who is the petroleum resources minister.

Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab is a multi-billionaire. It’s not hard to see how he made his billions: From our commonwealth. That’s why he raised a wayward son. Nobody can cheat and go free on the long run.

The young Mutallab admitted being trained for a month as a suicide bomber in Yemen. His father, Dr Umaru Abdulmutallab had reported his son as a security threat to both US and Nigerian security agencies several months ago. But the US Embassy in Nigeria has admitted that the father informed it about the son...but that the information was not specific enough.

To be continued

THE THANXS IS ALL YOURS!!!