I hope to see my son one day — 82-year-old Nigerian father of ‘underwear bomber’ Farouk Abdul Mutallab

Alhaji Umaru Abdul Mutallab, 82-year-old billionaire businessman and former Chairman of First Bank PLC and UBA has expressed hope of seeing his son, Farouk Abdul Mutallab, who is serving a life sentence in a United States prison for terrorism, one day. 

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab popularly referred to as the “Underwear Bomber” or “Christmas Bomber”, is a Nigerian-born terrorist who, at the age of 23, attempted to detonate plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253, en route from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, on Christmas Day, 2009.

Abdulmutallab was convicted in a U.S. federal court of eight federal criminal counts, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder of 289 people. On February 16, 2012, he was sentenced to 4 life terms plus 50 years without parole. He is incarcerated at ADX Florence, the supermax federal prison in Colorado.

Commenting on his son’s sentencing in an interview with Trust TV, Umaru said he hopes to see his son at least one day before he dies. 

Revealing that he is still in touch with his son but under strict prison guidelines, the former bank Chairman also said that his son calls sometimes twice or thrice a month.  Umaru also disclosed that Farouk’s mother, as well as his siblings, were with him about three weeks ago in the US.

He said; 

“We cannot phone him but he’s the one who can phone us and we do speak.

“Sometimes, he calls twice or thrice in a month.

“As a matter of fact, his mother, brother and sister were with him about two or three weeks ago.

“They visited him under very strict prison guidelines but we will keep on praying to Almighty Allah. Maybe one day in my lifetime, we would see him back. But it is a situation whereby he has 3 life sentences, plus 40 years. It is a lot.

“But only Almighty Allah will bring us into a situation of seeing him in this world with his siblings here in Nigeria.”

When asked if he is among the 11th richest men in Nigeria, the former Minister and Chairman of Jaiz Bank said he would not consider himself one of the richest in Nigeria.

Umaru said; 

“I am not a poor man, neither would say I am one of the richest persons in Nigeria, but I thank God for what He has given me. I’m grateful to Him. But I will not consider myself the 11th richest man in Nigeria by any chance.”