Islanders Magazine

ALERT: ISIS ‘launches’ mobile app to indoctrinate children


The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has launched a mobile application for propagating Jihad to children, Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, warned on Thursday.

According to a statement he issued in Abuja, which was circulated by Segun Adeyemi, his special assistant, the mobile application, tagged ‘Huroof’ (Arabic alphabets or letters), is to be used by ISIS to teach children the Arabic alphabets with the aid of guns, military tanks and cannons.

“The application utilizes colourful illustrations that attract and engage the attention of young children,” the minister said, urging members of the public in general and parents in particular to be vigilant and to prevent their children and wards from being indoctrinated.

ISIS, a Jihadist militant group of international notoriety, has been increasingly linked with Nigeria since March 2015, when Boko Haram released an audio statement to pledge allegiance to it.

“We pledge allegiance to the caliphate because of the interest of the Ummah in their religion and in their Dunya to have an Imam that looks after them according to Allah’s rule and fight the enemy of Islam and those who fights the rule of Allah and this is the completeness of the religion,” it said.

“We pledge allegiance because there is no cure of the dissimilarity that Ummah have except the caliphate. By Allah, our gathering under one banner, under one Imam is heavier to the enemy’s morality than for them to attain victory on the battle field.”

The following month, Boko Haram said it had  changed its name to the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA).