By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS, Nigeria
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned Friday the Boko Haram massacre of 150 civilians in the northeastern state of Borno that took place Thursday.
Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said Friday that the president considered the attack a "heinous atrocity which must be unreservedly condemned by all people of conscience."
Buhari called for an international coalition "against insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria and neighboring countries," Shuhu said.
Recently-elected Buhari is a Sunni Muslim and once dismissed Boko Haram as a mindless and Godless group, urging Muslims worldwide, including in Nigeria, to reject the terrorists who claimed fight in the name of Islam.
"President Buhari urges Muslims in Nigeria and across the world to reject with one voice the attackers' claim to be acting in the name of Islam, and tell the terrorists to stop the abasement of their religion," Shuhu said.
"The president conveys his heart-felt condolences to families of the victims of Boko Haram's dreadful killings in Kukawa," he said, referring to the location of the massacre.
The president's statement came the same day as another 13 people were killed by two female suicide bombers at a market and military checkpoint in northeast Nigeria, the fourth attack this week.
