Somtochukwu Okwuoha, a 26-year-old Nigerian master’s student, risks incarceration and deportation after a jury convicted him of making terrorist threats against Dundee University.
According to the BBC, the International Energy Student claimed he had enlisted the assistance of ISIS, a terrorist organization, in order to blow up the university and that he planned to hit the city with a chemical attack.
Okwuoha was convicted on all seven charges and remanded in jail. He will be punished next month, in December 2023.
Sheriff William Wood will also consider the Crown’s petition for an order directing Okwuoha’s deportation to Nigeria.
Okwuoha warned university personnel that he wanted to commit mass murder on the Dundee University campus, according to the trial. According to eyewitnesses, Okwuoha stated he had a military background and was capable of creating bombs and spreading a terrible virus over the city.
Keith Mackle, 58, now retired director of student services, testified in Perth Sheriff Court that he became aware of “serious concerns” in the autumn of 2021. He said that staff members received terrorist-related emails.
One said: “Expect a massive bomb explosion at the University of Dundee. I have contacted Isis terrorists to plant bombs on campus.
“I can assure you staff and students will die in great numbers. 9/11 will be a joke compared to what will happen.
“Blood will spill and flesh will be scattered.”
In addition, housing officer Shane Taylor testified in court that Okwuoha accused him of racism and threatened to exterminate Scottish people as retaliation.
Okwuoha, a Perth prisoner, was found guilty of threatening to murder university staff and commit terrorist acts between December 2021 and June 2022.
He was found guilty of threatening mass murder, employing biological weapons, disclosing personnel information to international authorities, and claiming to have hidden bombs. He was also convicted guilty of threatening police officers with beheadings and planting bombs at Dundee University.
