Nigeria’s membership of Islamic coalition not religious – Foreign Affairs Minister

Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyema has said that the membership of Nigeria in the Saudi Arabia led Islamic Coalition against terrorism has not religious connotations.

He said it was a strategic move to completely rid Nigeria of terrorist attacks having suffered a victim for a long time.

Geoffrey Onyema
It will be recalled that President Buhari had in an interview with Aljazeera television over the weekend confirmed that Nigeria had joined the coalition.

According to the Minister who spoke to the State House Correspondent after a private meeting with president Mohammadu Buhari at the presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday said that since the terrorists hide under the cloak of Islamic religion to perpetrate crimes, it was natural for the Islamic countries to show that they were anti-terrorism.

"It has nothing to do with religion as far as Nigeria is concerned. We have to look at what the objective is. We face terror challenges and its a global phenomenon.

"Unfortunately, the problem we have today is that some of the terrorists groups are claiming some of the things they are doing is in the name of a particular religion and it is clear to everybody that this is not the case which is obviously a concern to people of Islamic faith and Islamic countries that their religion should be so abused.

"So, there is naturally a tendency to show that this has nothing to do with Islam. Terrorism has nothing to do with Islam. Islamic countries, Islamic people want to be seen as being in the forefront of the battle against these terrorists to show also that it has absolutely nothing to do with religion.

"That's what this is all about. So, we are supporting every move to achieve this, to disabuse people's minds that some of these terrorists are speaking in the name of Islam or are Islamic or that there's anything about Islamic teaching that somehow condones these barbaric actions.

"I think it's something we should all get together and we should all support whoever is working towards it. And that's what this coalition is for, to show too that we are a Muslim country, we are Muslims and these people do not speak for islam, have nothing to do with islam.

"Most of the victims of these people are Muslims if you look at it. So, that's what it is.

"It has nothing to do with Nigeria, Christianity, Islam. I think the media should really get the main message across", he said.