Boko Haram, the Islamist terrorist group which captured nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls, has launched a new attack in Cameroon, amid fears a new wave of radicalised Britons could join the terror group.

The governor of Cameroon’s Far North region, Augustine Fonka Awa, confirmed the attack on a Chinese plant but declined to give details.

The BBC has reported at least one Chinese person was killed in the attack and at least one other taken hostage.

The attack comes amid rising concerns that a new wave of British extremists could soon bolster the ranks of Boko Haram.

A suspected ringleader of the group is alleged to have become radicalised while studying at a university in South Wales.

Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche dubbed himself “The Lion of God” and threatened to cut the hands and feet off non-believers while living in Britain.

It is believed the 29-year-old is in custody in Sudan after being arrested on suspicion of carrying out terror attacks in Nigeria which killed more than 90 people.

Ogwuche appears to have developed extremist views while studying at the University of Glamorgan, now the University of South Wales, from 2007 to 2010.

He lived in Pontypridd while he studied for a degree in Business Science at the university.

He failed to finish the course but was a regular at the campus prayer room where he would pray with fellow students.

Mustafa Ja, a Dutch student who studied at the university from 2009 to 2011, said he had met Ogwuche several times in the prayer room on campus.

He said: “I’m shocked. Wow, I’m just really shocked. I used to meet him during Friday prayers and whenever we broke our fast at the mosque.

“He didn’t seem to have any extremist views then – police officers would come and visit the prayer room regularly, so I don’t see how he could.”

A former housemate who said he knew him briefly during his time in Pontypridd said former students found it “very creepy” that Ogwuche may have become caught up in terrorism.

Anju Moro said: “He was very devout but then many people are.

“He would often just spend time in his room between going to and from prayers but he seemed harmless, if very serious.

“It is very creepy that he could have been having thoughts like that but he disappeared years ago so I suppose you can never know, can you?”

While living in South Wales, posts on his social media page became more and more extreme.

In early 2010 a chilling post on Facebook said: “Those who strive in the path of Allah love death like the kuffar love life, hahaha.

“Let them know, we are always ready to meet our lord anytime he wills.”

In 2011, after a series of increasingly extreme posts, he wrote: “The only punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is that they should be murdered, or crucified, or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides, or they should be imprisoned.”

Another post said: “We warn you to give up your disobeyance to Allah and surrender to him or wait we bring your humiliation then you will be regretful and on the knees.”

His profile picture is of a lion with the word “Asadullah”, meaning “Lion of God”.

After leaving Britain in November 2011 he was arrested at Abuja airport in Nigeria on arrival from the UK on suspected terrorism-related activities but was released to the care of his father, a retired army colonel, following protests from rights groups.

He has since been arrested in Sudan where he is suspected of being the co-mastermind of two bomb attacks in the past month in a suburb of Abuja, the Nigerian capital, in which more than 90 people were killed.

Ogwuche reportedly served in the intelligence unit of the Nigerian army but deserted in 2006, according to Nigeria’s Ministry of Information.

A spokesperson for the University of South Wales said: “Aminu Ogwuche was a student at the former University of Glamorgan between 2007 and 2010 but didn't go on to complete his studies at the university.

“The university has a strong community ethos with no history or evidence of extremist behaviour across any of its campuses so it is surprised to hear of his apparent involvement with terrorist group Boko Haram.

“There were no reported indications of extremist behaviour during his time as a student.

“There has been no contact between Mr Ogwuche and the university following his departure in 2010.”

A previous Nigerian extremist who was educated in Britain, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, trained in Yemen with al-Qaeda.

However, a security expert has claimed it might not be long until radicalised young Britons travel to Nigeria instead.

Robin Simcox, of the Henry Jackson Society think-tank, told The Independent: “It’s a surprise it has taken this long, really.

“Boko Haram is an increasingly powerful group but it hasn’t been as notorious as a group like al-Shabaab or al-Qaeda in Pakistan or Afghanistan. It has not been a notorious group that has been able to attract Westerners.

“With Boko Haram getting increased publicity with kidnapping, maybe that will draw more to Nigeria than to the Yemen.”

•Adapted from a Daily Express (London) report. Photo also courtesy of Daily Express.

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