Buhari finally admits that Nigerian has joined Saudi-led Islamic anti-terrorist coalition

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has finally admitted that Nigeria has joined the Islamic Coalition against Terrorism put together by Saudi Arabia formed to combat the growth of militancy in the Muslim world.

 

Earlier this month President Buhari went on a tour of the Middle East where he met with several Arab leaders, including King Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia. It is believed that he signed Nigeria up to the coalition during their talks in Riyadh, although the exact nature of what is expected is not yet known.

 

President Buhari said: “We are part of it 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.”

 

Asked to explain how such coalition would work for Nigeria, President Buhari said he could not disclose the details to the media. When told that some Christians were complaining that he was giving an Islamic identity to Nigeria, the president said he wondered why such Christians had not gone to fight Boko Haram in the north or militants sabotaging installations in the south.

 

“Why can’t those Christians that complained go and fight terrorism in Nigeria or fight the militancy in the south. It’s Nigeria that matters, not the opinion of some religious bigots,” President Buhari stated.

 

It is expected that the development will lead to a bitter argument as Nigeria is roughly divided 50:50 into Christians and Muslims. President Buhari's admission came two weeks after an official presidency statement seemed to suggest that the government had turned down the invitation to be part of the coalition.