It is often said that out of every five black people in the world, one is a Nigerian. So it is no surprise that for a country that makes news for all the wrong reasons, we now have a terror suspect allegedly with connections to Al Qaeda.
It would be inappropriate at this point to speculate on the circumstances leading to the radicalization of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab since authorities both in Nigeria and the United States are currently investigating. However, it would not be out of place to point out that this is a young man whose father reportedly complained to the American Embassy that he was no longer comfortable with his son’s activities. He was reportedly on the American Watch List but somehow managed to slip through airport security. It is troubling.
For us in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, it is little comfort that Umar is not just a home-grown “militant” operating in the creeks but an international figure with Al Qaeda ties. Unfortunately what appears to be an isolated incident may just make travel conditions a lot more difficult for a lot of innocent travelling Nigerians on legitimate business and leisure journeys.
MatrinexPolls wishes to commend The Federal Government of Nigeria for taking prompt action to unravel everything that needs to be known about the ugly incident. It is our hope that it is an isolated incident except that anybody who gains access to PETN cannot be a lone ranger. We have enough ugly scars already without adding this avoidable stigma.
Tata, everybody
Napoleon
Monday, December 28, 2009
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