The mother of a suspected Islamic terrorist who allegedly hacked a British
soldier to death tried desperately to turn him away from extremism but
“could not get through”, according to friends.Michael Adebowale,
the 22-year-old son of a Christian probation officer and a member of staff
at the Nigerian High Commission, was filmed holding a bloodied cleaver
in his hand after Drummer Lee Rigby was butchered in a London street.
Friends said he had been a “lovely boy” but became involved in some
“serious trouble” as a teenager and then turned to Islam. He started mixing
with some “bad people” and became increasingly extreme in his views.
His mother Juliet Obasuyi, a 43-year-old probation officer, went to her
friend and neighbour, a 62-year-old security officer, for help about nine
months ago after her son dropped out of university.She told him:
“Michael is not listening any more. His older sister is a good Christian
with a degree but Michael is rebelling as he has no father figure, dropping
out of university and handing out leaflets in Woolwich town centre.
“He is from a strong Christian family but he is turning to Islam and turning
against the family. He is preaching in the streets. He needs spiritual
guidance before he radicalises himself.”Another friend, Steve Adebiyi,
who started a company with Mrs Obasuyi, said she was often left in tears
after speaking to him on the phone. “The boy was giving the mother
problems,” he said. “She said he was in with some bad group and causing
a lot of trouble. They brainwashed him.”He and Michael Adebolajo,
the other suspected terrorist, are thought to have met at Greenwich
University.His mother was advised by a neighbour to take him to the
head of the Woolwich mosque for spiritual guidance. He was converted
to Islam by the head Imam, and taken for weeks of “further training”
at a centre near Cambridge.When he returned, however, he was even
more “radicalised” and his mother could no longer “get through to him”.
A spokesman for the mosque said they did not know if he attended or been
converted there.She subsequently returned to Nigeria, where she is
pursuing a career in politics.Neighbours in Greenwich said he had been a
“lovely boy” who was a keen Manchester United fan, but as a teenager
became “angry at a lot of things”.Magdalene Edwards told Channel 4 News:
“He was a lovely boy. Very gentle natured, very respectful to elderly
people.“He was angry at a lot of things like a lot of young people are.
About a year ago is when I saw him with this whole Muslim dress.
“I said to him are you a Muslim. And he said yes, he’s gone that way
now. I said just be careful, I’m aware that there are some that ride on the
coat tales of Islam and they’re really not serving their cause.
”Adebowale’s father, Adeniyi, was born in Nigeria but came to Britain to
study at Canterbury University. He and Mrs Obasuyi had a child, Michael,
but subsequently split up.His mother married twice but is now understood to
be single. She also started a small fashion business. She raised Adebowale
in Woolwich and Greenwich along with his half sister.Adebowale attended
Kidbrooke School in Greenwich, where friends said he was a “normal,
smiling teenager”. Luqman Ciise, one of his schoolmates, said:
“I knew him personally, he was normal, smiling all the time.
His name was Toby… Still can’t believe this.”According to a friend
he and his girlfriend, a fellow convert, became well-known in
south-east London for handing out extremist leaflets.Adebowale’s father
now works for the Nigerian High Commission in a flat just yards from
Holloway prison in North London. His flat was raided on Thursday
morning.A neighbour said: “He has lived here for at least ten years.
He is a very smart and polite man, who is known to everyone as Niyi.
On Thursday morning I was woken up by the sound of banging and
shouts of ‘armed police’. I looked out and police were running into Niyi’s
flat.“I then heard them shout ‘No firearms and No drugs’. I have got
no idea what happened to Niyi, but I haven’t seen him since.
“It came as a big shock because he is a professional man who works at
the Nigerian High Commission. He leaves everyday in a collar and tie
and does not get home until about 8pm.”
Culled from: The Telegraph
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