By Dansu Peter
According to the group, Nigeria is faced with another dimension of terrorist activities in the Islamic State (ISIS) after flushing out remnants of Boko Haram/ISWAP.
In a statement signed by its Director of Publicity, Prince Oni, on Wednesday, NDMG called on global attention to prevent ISIS or any other terror group from establishing itself as a replacement for Boko Haram.
Should this happen, Mr Oni said the world will be confronted with another refugee crisis like the one in Europe at the moment.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group warned that all hands must be on deck to chase away the ISIS out of the region before they gain ground and repeat the kind of carnage brought upon the Syrian-Iraqi axis.
The group, however, advised the Federal Government and the Armed Forces not to relent having silenced Boko Haram and instead tackle the new security challenge posed by ISIS.
Read the full statement below
The Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group (NDMG) United Kingdom Chapter is concerned at the recent development in which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility as the group involved in an encounter with the Nigerian troops.
The claim of responsibility by ISIS is a jolting wake-up call to the reality that international terrorism is trying to relocate its axis of influence to the Lake Chad Basin region and by implication Nigeria. This is a group that has its birthplace in the Middle East and is now trying to establish footholds in other places because conditions in the place are no longer favourable for its desired expansion.
ISIS’ claim of responsibility should ordinarily call for praises for the Nigerian Amy and other military services since this means that Boko Haram has in reality been decimated, but there is cause for concerns that ISIS has rushed in an attempt to replace the other brands of terrorists that the troops have wiped out.
We believe that there is a need to urgently take steps to prevent ISIS or any other terror group from establishing itself as a replacement for Boko Haram in north-east Nigeria and the entire Lake Chad Region. The human toll of such development is simply inconceivable. When ISIS established itself in the Middle East it caused a wave of refugees to flee the region, which provided cover for its fighters and sleeper cells to infiltrate European countries, which are still battling rogue attacks till date.
The world will again be confronted with the European refugee crisis situation if ISIS is allowed to set up in the northeastern part of Nigeria unchallenged. With ISIS claiming responsibility for the incidents with the Nigerian troops it is important to ensure that no effort is withheld to flush the terrorists out of the Lake Chad Basin region. The ISIS menace is one that Nigeria troops should not be allowed to confront alone.
We, therefore, urge the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, and the African Union Commission and other supra-national bodies to take urgent note of the incursion of ISIS into the sub-region by ISIS fighters.
NDMG warns that the various supra-national bodies do not have the luxury of displaying the kind of indifference that they displayed when they all left Nigeria alone to deal with the menace of Boko Haram.
Abandoning Nigeria to deal with the ISIS problem on its own will backfire on the entire human race in a way that would be regretted by all those that failed to act now that it is crucial to do so.
We, therefore, urge the Federal Government and the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the rest of the world that take the threats posed by this international terrorist’s group very seriously and not politicize it. It is important that the government of Nigeria put pressure on the world to immediately do the needful.
The world needs to urgently step in to chase out the ISIS terrorists out of the region before they gain ground and repeat the kind of carnage they brought in the Syrian-Iraqi axis Where did committed kind of atrocities that are not known to mankind. It is on record that in the past certain countries blocked the ability of Nigeria to buy weapons to fight Boko Haram terrorists The same mistake must not be repeated now that the world is aware that ISIS has left the Middle East and is now operating in the northeast of Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin region.
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