The Federal Government has appealed to Nigerians, especially religious leaders, not to fall for the antics of terrorists groups, Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa, who are described as trying to divide the country along religious lines.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the appeal to Nigerians on Thursday in Abuja at a press conference.
He said the resolve of the terrorists groups to divide the nation along religious line was consequent upon its inability to destabilize the country by holding territories and operating with ease as it was in the past.
Mohammed said to achieve their goals, the terrorists had deliberately targeted Christians in order to create a wrong impression.
He reasoned that the groups which had in time past not been discriminatory about their targets, had of late created the impression that Christians were their targets.
That he explained was however not to say that muslims were still not being killed by the insurgents.
His words: “In conclusion, we want to once again appeal to our leaders, especially religious leaders, not to fall for the antics of Boko Haram and ISWAP, who are trying to divide us along religious lines by targeting Christians for attacks. This is the last desperate move by a decimated and disillusioned band of killers and psycopaths to stay relevant amid constant decimation by our gallant troops. We have what it takes to come together and foil this divisive and satanic strategy.”
The minister said it was time for Nigerians to come together and support the military in the battle against insurgency in order to achieve success.
“We appeal to Nigerians to support the military as it moves to decapitate the insurgents. Second-guessing the military at this time is like playing into the hands of Boko Haram,” he said.
He stressed that the renewed vigour by the military in their war against the insurgents had been paying off handsomely, judging by the victories they had recorded in recent times.
Some of the victories he stated included:
– The killing of top ISWAP leaders at two separate meeting venues at Marte Local Government in Borno State a few days ago
– A similarly successful attack against the leadership of Boko Haram in Alafa Yagayaga in Borno earlier this month
– The killing of Boko Haram Chief Judge in Lake Chad
– The in-fighting in the leadership cadre of Boko Haram is a fallout of the pressure on the insurgents by the military
– The continued foiling by the military of many attacks by Boko Haram
– The continued decimation of the insurgents across the North-east-
– The inability of the insurgents to hold any territory or carry out the kind of spectacular attacks they used to carry out in the past, etc.
