UN Security Council Report Reveals Ghanaian Recruited By ISIL Terror Group

A report on the state and activities of the Libya operations of the international terror group, ISIL, has identified Ghanaian recruits of the group.

The 29th report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team on Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Al-Qaeda, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities said the Ghanaian was among 30 foreigners recruited by ISIL.

“Members of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant – Libya (ISIL-Libya) (QDe.165) are also present in the Fazzan region, but the group is estimated to have been degraded to approximately 50 fighters, located mainly between Sabha, Murzuq and Umm al-Aranib. A recent arrest led to the identification of a further 30 foreign fighters from Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, the Niger, Senegal and the Sudan,” the report said.

This is not the first time ISIL has managed to recruit Ghanaians. In 2015, there were reports that at least two Ghanaians, including a University graduate, had left the country to join the terror group.

Twenty-five-year-old geography graduate Nazir Nortei Alema, a devout Muslim, was one of the recruits.

He had completed his national service in July of that year and shortly after, told his parents he was traveling to a mining town in Ghana’s western region for work. His father, Abdul Latif Alema, would later receive a letter from his son informing him he was traveling to join ISIL to fight jihad.

Later, there were reports that Nazir Alema had been killed in a battle.

In the latest report, the Ghanaian was said to be among 30 foreigners found to be part of the ISIL-Libya’s operations. The other foreigners were from Eritrea, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Senegal and Sudan.

The report also said that despite its weakness, ISIL-Libya still had the operational capability and pitches its base in southern Libya, “where it hopes to reorganize its command.”