A group of African students in Cyprus have called on the Nigerian government to stop Nigerian youths from traveling to the republic of Iran to study, saying that most of them end up being radicalized.

The students made their opinions known during a march against terrorism and extremism at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. They said Nigeria faces future security risk if it continues to allow youths travel to countries renowned for radical Islamism.

Jeremiah Omadachi, President of the student group,  said some youths who travel to Iran under the guise of studying, are also shipped off to other countries such as Yemen and Somlia where they are radicalised.

The students cited an example with the current issue of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, whose activities were recently banned in Kaduna State, as well as the cases of Abdul Mutalab, the infamous underwear bomber who is currently serving a life sentence in the United States, and also Aminu Oguche, the alleged mastermind of the 2014 Nyanya bombing.

“As Africans living here in Cyprus, we have followed events in Nigeria and must confess that we have great concerns about the growing sectarian division there,” Omadachi told newsmen.

“The names of several sects are coming up in the daily accounts being rendered online but the name of Shiite sect, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, has remained a constant.

“We are aware through contacts with other communities and nationals here that the cover that IMN and Iran use is to make youths pretend they are travelling to get education.

“The frightening reality, however, is that young Nigerians that travel to Iran end up being radicalised and indoctrinated into extremism.

“There has been indications that they are also getting military training provided by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards,” the student group leader added.

He urged the Nigerian Government and other African leaders to be proactive to prevent Iran from expanding the Middle East crisis to Africa by using IMN as a front.

He said: “Our continent is too dear to us to keep quiet while Iran stokes the fire of sectarian strife.

“We appeal to the Nigerian government to immediately mount an enlightenment campaign that would educate Nigerian youths on the danger of travelling to Iran of all places in the erroneous impression that they will get useful education.

“They must be told of the reality of the harrowing experiences of those that have made the perilous journey.

“Some of the youths who think they will be getting education as professionals have ended up finding themselves as unwilling recruit into the Iranian terror infrastructure.

Omadachi stated that some Africans that had traveled to Iran in the so-called pursuit of Education “have died in the course of being trained as terrorists while those that managed to return home to Nigeria often discover they have been fashioned into misfits.”