By Fola James
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Nigerians to rise up and defend the country against Boko Haram and other terror groups who have made killings their signature.
The president’s call came on the crest of the killing of 11 people by ISWAP, a terror group align to Boko Haram.
ISWAP had stated that they killed “11 Christians” to avenge the death of some of their commanders by the Nigerian military.
The killing has almost pit the two major religions against each other, with the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, calling on the federal government to do more to protect Christians across the country.
But the president said the country must rally against the terror organization who have been fighting a war of attrition against the country for close to one decade.
The president stated that ISWAP intention is to set the country on fire by instigating Christians against muslims.
He said the terror group wants muslims blamed for the death of the 11 christians
Buhari said “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 he will continue to defend the country against terror “ As a President, the collective security of all Nigerians is my major preoccupation and the death of an innocent Christian or Muslim distresses me.”
According to him “No true Muslim would be shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ while killing innocent people, an evil frequently condemned by the Holy Qur’an.”
Nigerians must not allow the terrorists to set the country on war path “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 only way to continue to promote peace among the religious adherents, Buhari said further, is for all Nigerians to be united against terrorists and avoid unhelpful conspiracy theories that serve the interest of Boko Haram terrorists and ISWAP.
