Lessons from Abdulmutallab’s strayed act

Abdulmutallab

By Paul Arhewe

Penultimate Thursday, US Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds convicted the Nigerian underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and sentenced him to multiple life jail. Rationalising the sentence, the judge had said: “This was an act of terrorism that cannot be quibbled with.” The 25 year-old Nigerian, from an affluent and well cultured family, was indoctrinated after persistent listening and watching of internet videos containing radical teachings from the late Arabian Peninsula based Al-Qaeda Islamist cleric, Anwar al Awlaki.

Umar Farouk, like some youths from wealthy homes residing outside the shores of the country, had lived an affluent lifestyle. He had money and the means to move from country to country; he also had ample liberty to choose the type of lifestyle to pursue. After being indoctrinated in Yemen and having found a new faith, the former engineering student at University College London and youngest out of 16 children of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a former banker sent text messages to his parent urging them to “... just forget about me, I’m never coming back… Please forgive me. I will no longer be in touch with you… Forgive me for any wrongdoing, I am no longer your child.”

At what point did this young devoted Muslim become radicalised? His parents no doubt have wished for him the best in life and systematically invested in building a tall career for him through good and quality education. At the age of 21, his parents refused him getting married on the grounds that he should first earn his master’s degree. Could there be a more dotting parent?

Abdulmutallab had shown some leadership qualities, when he was president of the Islamic Society at University College London where he earned a degree in mechanical engineering. However, he failed to differentiate between extracurricular activities from his studies, which should be the prime focus as a student. By devoting more time with the group’s activities he ended up graduating with a second- class lower.

An unrestraint and uncontrolled youths, who at this age are full of youthful exuberance is tantamount to free rein to deviancy. Parents need to spare time to know the friends and company their children keep and activities that interest them. The internet, no doubts, has contributed positively in making life easy and communication very effective in contemporary times, nevertheless, there are many deleterious effects arising from recourse to this invaluable tool. They are capable of imbuing weak youths, and even adults, with warped values when no proper mentoring is done. The internet is suffused with pornography, heresies, debasing teaching, accompanied with gory images and videos. Also, it is sometimes used as a platform for recruiting foot soldiers for sects with dehumanising motives. Parental guide is really needed to shed children from corrupting themselves with the aforementioned vices. For this and other reasons, there is the need for relatives and friends to quickly intervene when deviant conduct begins to manifest in people close to them.

That Abdulmutallab chose to obstinately remain unrepentant while his case lasted shows the depth of brainwashing he was subjected to and the potency associated with indoctrinating sermons. He had reiterated that jihad against the United States “is among the most virtuous of deeds in Islam and is highly encouraged in the Koran.” No wonder, Judge Edmunds who convicted him, said she cannot control his motives but can control his opportunity from harming any American.

Many –would –be suicide bombers have likewise undergone similar brainwashing. I am dumfounded how repeated cases of suicide attacks are becoming pronounced in some parts of Nigeria. Before now, the view is upheld that the unrelenting spate of suicide bombings in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan can never occur here. Nigerians love life and thus they can only bark but not bite, it is popularly held. This has been proved wrong. Boko Haram members that have turned themselves into suicide bombers are acting from more sinister motives implanted into them through indoctrination accompanied with powerful visual imageries.

Kurt Haskell, one of the passengers in the Detroit-bound plane Umar Farouk would have bombed added a twist to the entire saga when he said that the underwear bomber was used and dumped. What informed this thinking? Haskell is convinced that Abdulmutallab was intentionally given a defective bomb by American agents to stage false terrorist attack. Could this be the reason why the US government neglected his father’s warnings to CIA agents in their Abuja Embassy before the botched attack?

Though, Alhaji Mutallab did what every sensible parents should have done in this given case by drawing the attention of security authorities to the radical disposition of his son, I think the family could have obtained more positive result by restraining his liberty and putting a closer watch on him earlier, especially when he started displaying little signs like condemning his father’s banking profession as “immoral” and “un-Islamic”.