Don’t Let Terrorists Divide Us – TheNigerialawyer

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja appealed to
Nigerians not to give room for terrorists to divide the country
along religious lines.

The president’s appeal came on the heels of the recent execution
of some Christians and Muslims by the Islamic State West Africa
Province (ISWAP).

In a statement, Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, quoted the president as
saying that he was saddened and shocked by the killings of innocent
persons hitherto held hostage by the insurgents.

He described the insurgents as callous and godless whose
activities do not reflect the nature of millions of other Muslims
across the world.

“I am profoundly saddened and shocked by the death of innocent
hostages in 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 a President, the collective security of all Nigerians is my
major preoccupation and the death of an innocent Christian or
Muslim distresses me,” Buhari said.

Shehu said the president also dismissed the terrorists as a
group of barbaric persons who had no clearly defined agenda.

He also accused them of pursuing evil through indiscriminate
murder of innocent people in contrast to the teachings of Islam,
which according to him, prohibits massacre.

According to him, the killers are agents of darkness and enemies
of humanity whose mission is to cause confusion, pledging that his
administration would not relent in its war against terrorism.

“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, and therefore, we shouldn’t let them divide us and turn
us against one another.

“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 evil doers,’’ the President added.

The statement added that the president appealed to all Nigerians
to be united against terrorists and avoid what he described as
unhelpful conspiracy theories that only serve the interest of Boko
Haram terrorists and ISWAP.