What Buhari said about the killing of 11 hostages on Christmas day by ISWAP

President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) has reacted to the killing of 11 hostages on Christmas day by the Islamic State West Africa Province.

A statement issued by ISWAP on the killing that claimed the life of 10 Christians and 1 Muslim, sees the group saying “We killed them as a revenge for the killing of our leaders, including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abul-Hasan Al-Muhajir in Iraq and Syria.”

Reacting to the killing, Buhari expressed sadness at the act which he says is aimed at diving Christians and Muslims in the country.

A statement issued by his media aide, Garba Shehu, reads:

“I am profoundly saddened and shocked by the death of innocent hostages at the hands of remorseless, godless, callous gangs of mass murderers that have given Islam a bad name through their atrocities.

“We should, under no circumstance, let the terrorists divide us by turning Christians against Muslims because these barbaric killers don’t represent Islam and millions of other law-abiding Muslims around the world.

“As President, the collective security of all Nigerians is my major preoccupation and the death of an innocent Christian or Muslim distresses me.”

He noted that the agenda of the terrorists are “contrary to the teachings of Islam, which prohibits massacre”.

He added, “No true Muslim would be shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while killing innocent people, an evil frequently condemned by the Holy Qur’an.

“These agents of darkness are enemies of our common humanity and they don’t spare any victim, whether they are Muslims or Christians; therefore, we shouldn’t let them divide us and turn us against one another.

“The goal of these sycophants is to cause confusion and spread distrust between Muslims and Christians, despite the fact that they aren’t representing the interest of Muslims or Islam

“While I condemn this evil, I wish to reassure Nigerians that this administration will not lower its guards in the war against terrorism, and we will continue to intensify our efforts towards strengthening international cooperation and collaboration to break the backbone of these evil-doers.”