President Muhammadu Buhari has assured President Roch Kabore and the people of Burkina Faso of Nigeria’s solidarity and support as they grapple with the aftermath of Friday night’s terrorist attack on Ouagadougou.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President expressed his solidarity with Burkina Faso in a telephone conversation with Kabore on Saturday.
Adesina quoted Buhari as expressing shock at the attack on the Splendid Hotel in Ouagadougou in which 26 persons were reportedly killed and 56 others injured.
“Accept my sympathy over what happened in your country. I am however glad to hear that your forces have rallied, and things are now under control,” Buhari was reported to have told Kabore.
He assured him that Nigeria will continue to work with Burkina Faso, other members of the Economic Community of West African States, the African Union and other peace-loving nations of the world to overcome the scourge of international terrorism.
The death toll in an attack by jihadists on a top hotel in Burkina Faso’s capital rose to 29 on Saturday night, with around 30 injured, the country’s Security Minister Simon Compaore said.
The AFP reported that the bodies of three jihadists had been identified. All three were men, the minister said, adding that they were “very young”. The previous death toll in the incident overnight Friday to Saturday had put the number of dead at 26, from 18 different nationalities.
“Those who have seen them believe they were very young, the oldest no older than 26,” said Compaore, adding that the men had arrived to unleash the carnage in vehicles registered in neighbouring Niger.
A security source had earlier said there had been at least four attackers, including two women.
Most of the victims were Westerners, according to a source close to the investigation, who added that at least five Burkinabe nationals were also among the dead.
Switzerland’s foreign ministry confirmed that two of its citizens were killed when the jihadists struck a restaurant opposite the four-star hotel where the attackers holed up. France has also confirmed the attack claimed the lives of two of its citizens.
Compaore said 176 people had been rescued. “Most have been able to leave after being questioned,” he added.
The gunmen attacked the Splendid hotel and the Cappuccino restaurant opposite, both popular with Westerners, on Friday evening, sparking a standoff with security forces that lasted until Saturday morning.
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