A University student was on Thursday arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as he allegedly prepared to fly to Libya in an attempt to join a terrorist group.
Hassanein Ahmed Bastry, who is a Biochemistry student at the University of Nairobi (UON), had reportedly been lured by a terror-linked agency which assured him of a hefty salary once he joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.
According to authorities, the first year learner had been promised to work as a phlebotomist whose pay would be Sh200,000 per month and would later on be raised to Sh1 Million.
Police investigations established that Bastry was recruited in early 2015 by an online agent flagged for working with terrorists.
In September the same year, he was informed that his application to travel to the North African country had been successful, after which he used part of his school fees to buy an air ticket.
A police report indicated that the student was nabbed after being trailed as he engaged with the syndicate which had been promising students jobs in the Middle East countries.
“The young man used part of his university fees to buy a ticket but was arrested before he accomplished his mission. The hapless youth usually find themselves being recruited into extremist groups,” the report stated.
There has been a rise in cases of students dropping out of school to join terror groups. Last year, two students disappeared from South C estate in Nairobi and later called their families informing them that they were in Syria.
Around the same time, it emerged that a former UON law student was one of the leaders of the Al Shabaab attack on Garissa University which claimed the lives of 147 people.
