Nigerian Student Faces Deportation From Scotland Over Terrorism Comments
Somtochukwu Okwuoha, a Nigerian master’s student in the United Kingdom, has been remanded in custody after a jury found him guilty of making terrorist threats against Dundee University, Scotland.
According to BBC, Okwuoha claimed he had enlisted ISIS, an international terrorist organization, to help bomb the university.
Also, the 26-year-old told staff members of the university that he planned to target Dundee in a chemical attack.
The jury found the international energy studies student guilty of seven charges and was remanded in custody.
He will be sentenced in December.
William Wood, the sheriff presiding over the case at the Perth Sheriff Court in Scotland, will consider the Crown’s request for an order to deport Okwuoha to Nigeria.
At trial, witnesses told the jury that Okwuoha told the university staff members he planned to carry out mass murder on the Dundee University campus.
The witnesses narrated how the student claimed he had a military background and was capable of making bombs and unleashing a deadly virus on the city.
Keith Mackle, a 58-year-old retired director of student services, told Perth Sheriff Court he became aware of “serious concerns” in the autumn of 2021.
He said staff members received emails making terrorist threats.
“Expect a massive bomb explosion at the University of Dundee. I have contacted ISIS terrorists to plant bombs on campus. I can assure you staff and students will die in great numbers. 9/11 will be a joke compared to what will happen. Blood will spill and flesh will be scattered,” one of the mails read.
Accommodation officer Shane Taylor told the court Okwuoha accused him of being racist and said he planned to wipe out Scottish people as revenge.
Okwuoha, a prisoner at Perth, was found guilty of threatening to murder staff members at the university and commit terrorist crimes between December 2021 and June 2022.
The embattled student was found guilty of threatening to commit mass murder, using biological weapons, revealing staff details to international authorities, and claiming to have planted bombs.
He was also found guilty of threatening to kill police officers and detonate bombs he had planted at Dundee University.
