President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday expressed shock over the news of the attack on innocent civilians in Paris by suspected terrorists.
The President’s reaction came via in a statement issued in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
“On behalf of the government and people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Buhari conveys his heartfelt sympathy to President Francois Hollande and the people of France,” Mr Adesina said in the statement.
The President also extended sincere condolences to the families, relatives and friends of the unfortunate victims of the callous attacks.
President Buhari condemned the barbaric attacks which he said constituted an unacceptable affront to all human values and civilized norms.
According to him, as a country which has borne the terrible human cost of terrorist attacks, Nigeria stands in full solidarity with the government and people of France as they mourn those who have lost their lives in the attacks on Paris.
President Buhari called on all peace-loving nations of the world, to intensify ongoing multilateral cooperation and collaborative actions aimed at tackling the problem of international terrorism.
The Islamic State jihadist group has claimed responsibility for the attacks which left more than 120 people dead.
In a message it posted online on Saturday, the group said “eight brothers wearing explosive belts and carrying assault rifles” conducted a “blessed attack on… Crusader France.”
The statement, published in both Arabic and French, threatened further attacks against France “as long as it continues its Crusader campaign.”
It said the targets of Friday’s attacks, which included the Stade de France and the Bataclan concert hall, “were carefully chosen”.
The terror group said France was guilty of “striking Muslims in the caliphate with their aircraft.”
France is part of a US-led coalition conducting an air war against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, where the group declared a caliphate last year after seizing swathes of both countries.
It has carried out air strikes in Iraq for more than a year but extended them to Syria in September.
French President Francois Hollande had already blamed ISIS, calling the coordinated assault an “act of war… committed by a terrorist army, Daesh, against France,” using another term for ISIS.
