Ghanaian ISIS recruit killed -Final funeral rites held yesterday

• Posted on March 21, 2016
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Mr Mohammad Nazir Nortei Alema, a Ghanaian graduate from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)

who joined terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in August 2015 has been reported killed.

Sources close to the family in Accra told The Finder that the final funeral rites (known in Islam as Adua) were held yesterday.

Sheik Abdul Rahman, the former Chief Imam of London, who named Mr Nazir when he was born in London, led the Adua prayers held in Osu, where the family of the deceased resides.

Mallam Barhama of Tudu and Mallam Yusif of Accra New Town also supported Sheik Abdul Rahman in the prayers.

Persons who took part in the solemn Adua ceremony told The Finder the family was devastated when news got to them last Wednesday that Mr Nazir was killed in battle in the Syrian city of Homs.

According to sources close to the family, another Ghanaian ISIS recruit who gave his name as Mr Yusif, a graduate of the University of Mines in Prestea, announced Mr Nazir’s death to the family through an email.

Mr Nazir, who left the shores of Ghana August last year to join ISIS in faraway Syria, was said to have been killed in battle in the Syrian city of Homs.

It is the first reported case of a Ghanaian joining ISIS.

Mr Nazir was born in London some 25 years ago, and as a result he holds both Ghanaian and British passports.

According to the sources, Mr Nazir’s family relocated to Ghana when he was 14 years of age.

Mr Nazir, a 25-year-old who studied geography at the prestigious KNUST, was confirmed as one of those who had joined IS.

His fateful trip to the training grounds of the so-called Islamic State, as they are derogatively referred to, started on August 2, 2015, soon after his completion of the mandatory National Service in Ghana, which he undertook at the Statistical Service.

Many people in Ghana were extremely shocked by the news that a Ghanaian had joined ISIS.

Ghanaians are surprised because they have always seen Islamist militancy as a distant threat.

But it has now dawned on Ghanaians that the problem may have reached closer to home.

Since then, the issue has become part of a nationwide discourse. Parents are worrying about their children and the Muslim community is anxious to disassociate itself from Islamist extremism.

Family background

Mr Nazir is from a family of five: his parents and three siblings.

His father’s name is Mr Alhaji Abdul Latif Alema.

His mother, Hajia Suwaiba, a.k.a. Hajia Mattan, is a granddaughter of Mallam Gadel, who was the Chief Imam of the Ghana Armed Forces in the First Republic.

Character of the late Mr Nazir

Close family associates said Mr Nazir was a shy young man who spent most of his time on the internet, either the desktop computer or on his mobile phone.

He made little friends and would never engage one in an unnecessary argument.

When the news first broke

Alhaji Abdul Latif Alema said his 25-year-old son, Mohammad Nazir Nortei Alema sent a WhatsApp message on August 16 explaining that he was going to join IS, and he has not been seen since.

“O my Father, O my Mother, do not be worried about the decision of your son, for I did nothing wrong but to gain Allah’s Mercy and Forgiveness,” he wrote.

Mr Alema said his son had earlier indicated that he wanted to live under Islamic rule.

Mr Alema said, “It is like someone in the family has died. Nobody is happy and as for his mum she keeps on crying and fasting and praying that her son returns.”

ISIS recruits travelled through Burkina Faso or Nigeria, before receiving training at a camp in Niger, and then making the onward journey to Turkey or Syria.

IS agents recruit students after urging them to join radical online forums.

Ghana has a minority Muslim population and has not been affected by insurgency involving militant Islamists.

However, IS has established a presence in Africa, with militant groups in Nigeria, Egypt and Libya pledging allegiance to it and carrying out bombing campaigns in its name.

The Finder Exclusive