Nigeria begins probe on visa granted to wanted militants

Nigeria is investigating how a visa to visit the West African country was granted to a suspected terrorist having links with the Islamic State terror group, an official statement by the foreign ministry said Thursday.

Nigerian authorities have identified the wanted terrorist as a man of "Palestinian extraction who resides in Lebanon", the statement signed by Bulus Lolo, permanent secretary of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said.

"I spoke to our charge d'affairs in Lebanon and he has met with the Lebanese authorities. The charge d'affairs said the matter was being looked into but the facts that were emerging would suggest that what the media had reported was not entirely the true story," the foreign ministry statement said, adding "it seems that this individual is of Palestine extraction and has resided for a very long time in Lebanon".

On Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the foreign ministry to investigate the visa granted to the man in question, named Ahmad al-Assir, a radical Muslim cleric suspected to have a strong link with the Islamic State.

The Nigerian foreign ministry said based on investigation, "he has residency and, as you know, Lebanon for quite some time has granted full residency to Palestinian refugees. "So, this may be one of such individual," the foreign ministry added.

However, what is of interest to Nigerian authorities is the name of the man in question. "This is because the name he presented with the passport that was reported as Palestinian does not tally with what the Lebanese has as his name," the foreign ministry said.

Nigeria is alleging that al-Assir might have forged the Nigerian visa found on his Palestinian passport since investigation has shown he did not apply for the visa in Lebanon.

The Nigerian foreign ministry alleged further the terror suspect has been bearing Rami Abdul Rahman Taleb, a fake name he allegedly adopted to evade detection by security agencies in Lebanon where he was accused of involvement in the death of 17 Lebanese soldiers and had been sentenced to death by the court in 2013.