Arsenal jihadi who worked for KFC and Tube
12 arrested in dawn raid as neighbours say he asked about cost of hiring a van
THE jihadi who was wearing an Arsenal shirt when he was shot dead was ‘euphoric’ and asking about how to hire a van just hours before the London Bridge atrocity, it was claimed last night.
A neighbour said the man wandered over on Saturday afternoon and asked about his van and how much it would cost to hire one.
Hours later, the father of two went on a bloody rampage with two twisted extremists which left seven people dead and scores more injured. After police raided a flat in Barking, East London, at 7am yesterday, it emerged the jihadi:
Worked for Transport for London, having previously worked for KFC;
Once appeared on a Channel 4 documentary last year about jihadis in Britain and had links to two notorious Islamic preachers;
Had previously tried to go to Syria to fight jihad but had been talked out of it by his family;
Was in an arranged marriage and only recently became a father for the second time;
Had been thrown out of a local mosque after he repeatedly interrupted the imam during prayers;
It was claimed he had been reported to the anti-terrorist hotline, but had not been arrested or stripped of his passport.
Scotland Yard said seven women aged between 19 and 60 were detained under the Terrorism Act while five men aged 27 and 55 were also arrested – one of whom was released without charge.
Iketina Chigbo, who lives in the block of flats raided in Barking, said he saw the Arsenal-supporting jihadi, who he knew as ‘ Abs’, just a few hours before the terror attack. He added: ‘It was around 3pm and I was in the process of moving so was loading stuff into a van. He came over and seemed quite excitable. He was wearing his Arsenal shirt and was asking about the van.
‘He was asking where I got the van from and how much it cost. I didn’t think anything of it. He was on another level of happiness and kept shaking my hand. He seemed almost euphoric. But then I saw the picture from the scene of the attack of the guy on the floor – he was wearing the same kind of colour top and I just couldn’t believe it.’
He added: ‘I’ve known him almost three years and we’ve had general chit-chat. We never had any suspicions, he seemed like a nice guy.’ Another neighbour said the man previously worked for KFC and more recently in customer relations for TfL, which is responsible for the Tube and bus services in the capital.
He said: ‘He seemed like a normal guy but then he became quite radical. I saw him on a TV documentary with an ISIS flag some time ago and after that I tried to keep my distance from him.’ Another said: ‘He was a nice guy, obviously religious but normal. We used to speak about Arsenal and I last chatted to him a few weeks ago after we won the FA Cup. There was nothing untoward about him.’
A female neighbour said: ‘He didn’t interact with women in the area because of his views. He would happily talk to men but would ignore females. I only ever saw his wife if he was with her and she wore the full veil – I don’t think I ever saw her eyes.’
A relative of his wife said he had been concerned about the jihadi’s views and tried to raise the alarm with the family.
‘In 2015, I heard that he tried to
go to Syria saying he was going for jihad. But the family rallied round and as his wife was pregnant they managed to stop him.’
Last night it also emerged that a mosque banned the jihadi after he repeatedly interrupted the imam during prayers prior to the 2015 general election. A source at the mosque said: ‘He repeatedly interrupted the imam and that is not something you are allowed to do. He kept shouting “Only God is in charge” and would not stop.
‘ In the end the caretaker escorted him from the building.
‘I don’t think anyone else – by that I mean the authorities – were told. It was dealt with by banning him from the mosque.’