Boko Haram members are not Muslims-Buhari

Boko Haram members are not Muslims-Buhari

Opeyemi Oshoko |

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said members of the Boko Haram sect are not Muslims, saying there is no link between religion and the atrocities of the insurgents.

He said this at a meeting with President Francois Hollande of France shortly after his participation in today’s G-7 Outreach Programme in Germany.

He said, “Members of Boko Haram sect neither know God nor believe in Him.”

In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, President Buhari said that Nigeria would welcome greater support and cooperation from France and other friendly nations for its ongoing efforts to overcome Boko Haram and restore full security and normalcy to areas affected by the group’s atrocities.

He said that his administration was already taking concrete action to build a more efficient and effective coalition of Nigeria and neighbouring countries against Boko Haram.

“Nigeria will appreciate more intelligence on the terrorist group’s links with ISIS, movements, training and sources of its arms and ammunition to facilitate the perfection of fresh tactics and strategies being evolved to overcome terrorism and insurgency in the country and its sub-region,” the statement read.

In his remarks at the meeting, President Hollande commended President Buhari’s concerted efforts to galvanize Nigeria’s armed forces, security agencies and neighouring countries for more decisive action to eradicate Boko Haram.

The French leader assured President Buhari that France would give Nigeria and its coalition partners greater support against terrorism and insecurity, including military and intelligence cooperation, to help them overcome the security challenge posed by Boko Haram and its global terrorist allies as quickly as possible. He also called for greater bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France in other areas including trade, economic and cultural relations.

Mallam Shehu said President Buhari also received similar pledges of enhanced support from Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada and Chancellor Angela Merkel who he also conferred with before departing from the venue of the G-7 2015 Summit.