By Richard EspositoSenior Executive Producer, Investigations, NBC News
NEW YORK -- A Nigerian man was being arraigned Friday on charges of providing material support to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terrorist organization’s Yemen-based affiliate, and criminal use of firearms.
According to a five-page indictment, Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi, 33, traveled twice from Nigeria to Yemen in 2010 and 2011 to meet and train with leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Among other things, Babafemi assisted in AQAP’s English-language media operations, which include the publication of the propaganda magazine “Inspire,” the indictment said. He also was given the equivalent of nearly $9,000 in cash by AQAP leaders to recruit other English speakers from Nigeria to join that group and also received weapons training, it said.
Babafemi, who also was known by the nom de guerre “Ayatollah Mustapha,” according to the charging papers, was indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York on Feb. 21, and subsequently arrested and extradited from Nigeria.
Babafemi was due to be appear in federal court in Brooklyn for his arraignment.
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