The federal government has alerted Nigerians about the new recruitment strategy of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS, a terrorist group, which include posing as agents offering educational assistance via the internet.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed raised the alarm in a press release issued on Monday in Abuja by his media aide, Segun Adeyemi.

Mohammed urged parents and guardians to monitor the activities of their children and wards in order to prevent them from being recruited by the terrorists.

The minister cited the recent recruitment into ISIS of 27 medical students of the University of Medical Sciences and Technology, UMST, in Sudan as an example of the new strategy being used by the organisation to recruit more members.

He quoted a report received by the Nigerian Intelligence Community which stated that 22 of the 27 students, who travelled to Syria to join ISIS, are Britons.

”According to the report, the students were recruited by one Mohammed Fakhri Al-khabbas, a former UMST student from Middlesborough, United Kingdom,” the statement read in part.

“Many of the students are children of reputable doctors in the UK. Their Social Media accounts also revealed them as praising Jihadists and championing ISIS’ cause,” it added.

The minister therefore appealed to Nigerians, especially those who have children and wards in foreign academic institutions, to pay more attention to their activities, while urging schools across the country to enlighten their students on the new ISIS’ recruitment strategy.