President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Nigerians to remain united following the beheading of 11 Christians by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Borno State.
The group claimed responsibility for the execution shortly after the video was released.
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In a statement, President Buhari said on Friday that he was ‘shocked by the death of innocent hostages.’
The killing comes amid claims by the Federal Government and the Army that Boko Haram which metamorphosed into ISWAP had been ‘technically defeated.’
“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,” Buhari said.
“As a President, the collective security of all Nigerians is my major preoccupation and the death of an innocent Christian or Muslim distresses me.’’
The President said the terrorists have no clearly defined agenda except the pursuit of evil through indiscriminate murder of innocent people, contrary to the teachings of Islam, which prohibits massacre.
“No true Muslim would be shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while killing innocent people, an evil frequently condemned by the Holy Qur’an,” he said.
“These agents of darkness are enemies of our common humanity and they don’t spare any victim, whether they are Muslims or Christians, and therefore, we shouldn’t let them divide us and turn us against one another.
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“The goal of these psychopaths 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 evildoers.”
