Boko Haram – President Muhammadu Buhari has confirmed that Nigeria is an official member of the Islamic Coalition Against Terrorism hosted by Saudi Arabia who recently proclaimed occurance of a coalition of 34 largely Muslim countries to fight terrorism.
Buhari made the stance known in Doha, Qatar, during an interview session with Al-Jazeera aired on Saturday, March 5, 2016. According to him, the decision to join the coalition was because of the terrorism that has plagued the country which is spearheaded by people who claim to be Muslims.
He said: “We are part of it (the Islamic coalition) because we’ve got terrorists in Nigeria that everybody knows which claim that they are Islamic. “So, if there’s an Islamic coalition to fight terrorism, Nigeria will be part of it because we are casualties of Islamic terrorism,” the President said.
“I’ve just told you; it was the Boko Haram itself that declared loyalty to ISIS. “ISIS is basically based in Islamic countries. Now, if there’s a coalition to fight Islamic terrorism, why can’t Nigeria be part of it while those that are fighting in Nigeria as Boko Haram claim to be Muslims? But the way they are doing, it is anti-Islamic.”
He said: “Why can’t those Christians that complained go and fight terrorism in Nigeria or fight the militancy in the South. It is Nigeria that matters, not the opinion of some religious bigots.”
