We’re getting the first pictures of and background information regarding Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian national and apparent al-Qaeda operative who attempted to detonate an explosive aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253 on Christmas Day.

Abdulmutallab, who was born on December 22, 1986, is the son of prominent Nigerian banker Dr. Umaru Abdulmutallab.

Dr. Abdulmutallab, 70, recently retired as chairman of First Bank of Nigeria — one of the largest financial institutions in the country of its namesake. He also served as executive chairman of United Bank for Africa. He played a major role in the introduction of Islamic banking into Nigeria, and he currently serves as chairman of First Islamic Bank.

The younger Abdulmutallab, the suspect in yesterday’s attempted attack, was until recently an engineering student at University College London, an elite university based in the United Kingdom’s capital.

That wasn’t Abdulmutallab’s first foray into elite British educational institutions, either. He was previously educated at the British School of Lome, Togo. SarahaReporter.com reports he “passed his International Baccalaureates Diploma”.

The family comes from Katsina Township, home of Nigeria’s president (Umaru Musa Yar’adua).

The suspect Abdulmutallab reportedly lives in a multi-million dollar apartment in London. The apartment, belonging to an American company, was raided by government agents for the United Kingdom today.

He has been recently traveling to Yemen, where al-Qaeda has been gaining strength, and told his friends he wanted to study Arabic. He reportedly came to the decision after meeting radical Islamists in London.