STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
Ofeibea, Happy New Year.
OFEIBEA QUIST: And to you, too. Greetings from sunny Abuja.
INSKEEP: Indeed. Thank you. Thank you. What are Nigerians saying about this arrest?
QUIST: This story is all over the papers, all over the media and it's the talk of the town. Why should this happen now? Why should Nigeria, which is trying to rebrand itself and improve its global image, have to deal with this crisis right now?
INSKEEP: What have you been able to learn about the young man's family?
QUIST: And his father reported their misgivings - the family's misgivings that the young man seemed to be changing, that his behavior was out of character. Reported it to security agencies, not only here in Nigeria, but we're told, to the U.S. embassy here and to security agencies in two continents - the U.S. and in Saudi Arabia. So many questions are being asked how come this happened - allegedly happened.
INSKEEP: Do you have a better sense of the young man's links to terror groups as his behavior seemed to be changing there?
QUIST: But many Nigerians are now questioning, do we have terror cells operating here? This is a country that has a strong Muslim tradition and half the population is Muslim. Are our young people being radicalized and are they being radicalized here?
INSKEEP: Just so we understand the context though, because you've been in Nigeria many times and you mention it's half Muslim, half Christian, how well are Muslims integrated into the country in Nigeria?
QUIST: You know, Christians and Muslims and animists have lived side by side, coexisted mainly well together, have lived together and got along together and lived in the same communities. But there has been sporadic violence between the two communities that has led to hundreds of deaths over the past ten or more years. So there have been problems. But nobody has really thought of it of having been imposed from elsewhere, either Islamic or Christian. It's been amongst Nigerians.
INSKEEP: Ofeibea, thanks very much.
QUIST: Always a pleasure.