THE two suspects in the street slaying of soldier Lee Rigby are said to have become radicalised after joining the same university after both got involved with drugs and gangs.
Michael Adebolajo studied sociology at Greenwich University between September 2003 and 2005 after completing A-levels.
The university is investigating claims his accomplice, Michael Adebowale, also attended the former polytechnic, with the university saying it had no record of a student using the name.
The Islamic Society at Greenwich University is known to have distributed leaflets written by clerics banned from the UK and hosted speakers with extreme views.
Adebolajo, 28, is known to have been raised in a strict Christian household by his mother and converted to Islam around 2004.
Adebowale is thought to have become interested in Islam during a spell in Feltham Young Offenders Institution around 2009. His mother, also a Christian, is a probation officer and his father reportedly a member of staff at the Nigerian High Commission.
His mother is said to have tried to stop her son's radicalisation and had become alienated from her child following his conversion. Adebolajo followed the teachings of a number of extreme clerics, including Omar Bakri Muhammad – founder of the Al Muhajiroun militant movement in the UK – for several years.
Bakri Mohammad said Adebolajo chose his Muslim name, Mujaahid, which means one engaged in jihad.
But the suspect's friend Abu Nusaybah – who was arrested following his appearance on Newsnight on Friday – said he had rejected the core beliefs of the organisation. Adebolajo had apparently hoped to leave the UK and work either as a fitness instructor or teacher.
Adebolajo spent his early life in Romford, Essex. His school friends remember him as "normal" but he then got involved with a gang of Nigerian males. His conversion was soon to follow and his family moved to Lincolnshire in a bid to change their son's influences.
He is said to have travelled to Kenya six months ago, possibly to gain entry to Somalia to fight with Al Shabaab, the country's al-Qaeda cells, but was arrested by security forces.
Adebolajo claimed he had been physically assaulted and sexually threatened while he was interrogated.
The suspect also alleged he was being pursued by M15, who had asked him to work with the organisation. This has not yet been corroborated.
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