A four-year-old gun-bearing boy shown in a recent Islamic State (ISIS) video has been confirmed to be partly Nigerian.
According to a report by The Telegraph the grandfather of the boy, Mr. Sunday Henry Dare, came forward as the video went viral.
Mr. Dare said Isa is the son of a British jihadi bride. The video as released by ISIS shows how five alleged British spies were killed and 32-year-old British ISIS fanatic accused of being the ‘new Jihadi John’, Siddhartha Dhar aka Abu Rumaysa, was seen shooting one in the head.
Isa, who was dressed in military outfit and a black bandanna bearing the white mark of ISIS, declared in the video that ‘We will kill kuffar (non believers)’. Confirming his grandson’s identity, Mr. Dare said the young boy is the son of his daughter Grace ‘Khadijah’ Dare, who grew up in Lewisham, south London, to Nigerian Christian parents and converted to Islam as a teenager.
Dare, who is a minicab driver, told the The Telegraph: “I was surprised when I saw the picture. It’s definitely him. Of course I’m worried but there’s nothing I can do now. I’m not angry – I would never have expected it. I just hope someone is trying to bring them back.” In an interview with Channel 4 news, Dare begged his daughter to return to Britain: “She should come back and face the music. Because, she has let herself down”.
On his grandson Isa, Dare further told Channel4 News: “He doesn’t know anything. He’s a small boy. They are just using him as a shield.” He added that he had not spoken to his daughter Grace for weeks because “When she calls me I keep on ignoring her calls because she has brought shame to my family and to herself”.
Grace ‘Khadijah’ Dare, who’s married to a Swedish Islamic fighter called Abu Bakr, is said to have left Britain for Syria two years ago where she joined the terror group ISIS.
Last December 14, Nigeria was listed among 34 mainly Muslim countries by Saudi Arabia to coordinate a global fight against terrorist organisations.
According to the government of Saudi Arabia, the alliance would confront not only ISIS, but “any terrorist group in front of us.”