To his classmates and teachers at the British school in Togo, west Africa, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab was the cheerful if sometimes serious student, whose pious views earned him the nickname, the Pope.
But behind his innocent chiding about the perils of alcohol and western
decadence lay a burgeoning pull towards radical Islam, which on Christmas
Day, saw him try to take the lives of 278 passengers aboard an American
bound airliner.
Mutallab’s journey towards terrorism is an unusual one which has shocked and
dismayed those who knew him as a youngster.
The son of the former chairman of a Nigerian bank, he enjoyed the trappings of
a wealthy upbringing, privately educated in a highly regarded international
boarding school.
Among his classmates was the daughter of Karl Hoffman, an adviser to the
former US secretary of State Colin Powell.
Mutallab’s former history teacher, Mike Rimmer who taught him at the British
School of Lomé in Togo, west Africa, remembered him as a model pupil but
admitted that he had some radical views in his teenage years.
Mr Rimmer told The Daily Telegraph: “In 2001 we discussed the
Taliban in class. All the other Muslim kids thought they were a bunch of
nutters with beards, and could not understand why they did such things as
banning kite flying. But Umar seemed to think that was reasonable.”
He said fellow pupils gave him the nickname ‘The Pope’ because of his “pious”
and “high-minded” attitudes and later dubbed him ‘Alfa’ a local term
meaning Islamic teacher.
On one occasion, during a school trip to London, Mutallab objected to being
taken to a pub for lunch.
The teacher said: “Umar came up to me and said, ‘Mr Rimmer, you should
not be taking us into pubs. We do not want to be in a building associated
with alcohol.'”
But despite these instances Mr Rimmer remembered his pupil with fondness,
saying: “He was very interested in world affairs and would stay behind
after lessons to discuss issues. For a teacher, that was just wonderful.
“He was a very personable boy; he could have gone into politics. He
could have become the president of Nigeria. But now his future doesn’t look
bright at all.”
Mutallab’s father, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, 70, is from Funtua in the largely
Muslim northern state of Katsina, and retired as chairman of Nigeria’s
oldest bank, First Bank, earlier this month after a distinguished career in
finance that included 13 years on the board of the bank.
Last night he spoke of his devastation at the news of his son’s alleged terror
bid. He said: “I am really disturbed. I would not want to say anything
at the moment until I put myself together.”
After leaving school Mutallab won a place at the prestigious University
College London to study mechanical engineering.
His father rented a luxury apartment just off Harley Street and Mutallab
surrounded himself with siblings and friends who were part of an elite group
of Nigerian ex-patriots in London.
But one friend who knew him in London said he kept himself to himself much of
the time and always wore a skullcap, relatively rare among young Nigerian
Muslims who usually only wear them on religious occasions.
