Wanted
ISIS terrorist, Ahmed Al-Assir, who was arrested in Lebanon on his way
to Nigeria, was coming on the invitation of a foreign company operating
in the country
Ahmed Al-Assir
According to a shocking report on Daily Trust,
the ISIS leader, Ahmed Al-Assir, who was arrested in Lebanon on his way
to Nigeria lately, was reportedly coming on the invitation of a foreign
company operating in the country.
Sources in Nigeria’s security circles, who spoke to Daily Trust, said the visa was issued by a Foreign Service official in Beirut based on that invitation. Sources said without a letter of invitation, the ISIS leader’s visa application would not have been approved.
Discussions within the security circles in Nigeria centred on a popular middle-eastern company operating in Nigeria as the originator of the invitation letter for the issuance of the visa. A source said allegations that a bribe of about $8,000 was paid by Al-Assir to obtain the visa has not been confirmed.
Sources said even if a bribe that big was offered it was highly unlikely that the official who issued the visa received such money alone. It was hinted that the intelligence report of the plans of Al-Assir to visit Nigeria was given to the Lebanese authorities by Hezbollah.
He pointed out that the lack of an active Foreign Service liaison with security and intelligence organization at the Nigeria embassy in Beirut made it difficult to share such intelligence operations with Nigeria directly.
The Presidency who felt embarrassed and scandalized that a man on the international terror list had obtained a Nigerian visa and was on his way to the country, has ordered an investigation into how the ISIS leader secured a valid Nigerian visa in Lebanon.
The federal government had therefore directed the three agencies involved – the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Nigerian Immigration Service to immediately investigate the matter and report back soonest.