Kenyan youth spend 8 hours daily on terror related websites, official says

Nairobi, Kenya: Youth in Nairobi are spending up to eight hours daily on terror related websites for recruitment into extremist groups, the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) has said.

Surveillance on Internet usage show youth, especially in universities, spend long hours on terror related websites learning various issues on how they can join the groups.

NCTC Director Isaac Ochieng revealed that those targeted are trooping to Syria where they have joined Islamic State (ISIS).

He said most of those who are joining the terror groups think it is fashionable to do so.

He added that a combination of internet, peer pressure and religion also explain why young people are joining extremist organisations. Most of the youth are aged between 20 and 25.

“More than 20 Kenyan youth, most of them university students, have either been flown or driven out of Nairobi and are headed to Syria. The rate of radicalisation is alarming and needs urgent measures to contain it,” said Ochieng.

Speaking at Strathmore Law School during a terrorism lecture, Ochieng said Kenya has no capacity to stop one from traveling to either Somalia or any other hotbed of terrorism.

He further said 100 youth, who had crossed to Somalia to join terror group Al-Shabaab, have come back and surrendered to authorities.

“We have met them in efforts to de-radicalise them. They have a story to tell and when you look at all they say, you find that devolution is the only solution that can help in contain further radicalization of youth,” he said.

He urged parents to always monitor the behavior of their children and report to authorities.

“When you find a son starting to question parents at home on why they are behaving in a certain way or why their sisters are not covering their heads, then know that things have changed,” Ochieng said.

Director of Criminal Investigations Ndegwa Muhoro said they have profiled all those who have been reported to them as missing or have joined terror groups.

Muhoro said most of the recruits may come back to launch terrorism in the country. He also revealed they have accounted for all the 148 people who were killed at the Garissa University College in April.

“All the bodies of the 148 victims of Garissa College have been accounted for. There was a case we had but it has since been solved,” he said.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery said democracy without strong institution has led to a fertile ground for instability and war, hence terrorism.

“What democracy promoters must do is to try to create favourable institutional conditions in the sequence most likely to foster transition that result in successful and peaceful consolidation of democracy,” he said.

The conference with themed “Terrorism: a challenge to emerging democracies in Africa’’ was organized to generate sound policy proposals as well as counter-terrorism models suited for the region.

Participants observed poverty, poor development and marginalization as some of the factors driving youts into the extremist groups.