Boko Haram members are no Muslims, says Jonathan

 

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday dismissed Boko Haram members and other terrorists as no Muslims.
He said that their violent activities such as murder, arson and bombing have no basis in Islam.
“Boko Haram killing innocent children and women in market places, in mosques, schools  definitely has nothing to do with religion…What is happening globally now has no religious basis,” he said  while receiving  a delegation of the Muslim community during a courtesy call on him on the occasion of the Eid-el-Kabir, in Abuja.

“A number of things that has to do with our belief system suppose to encourage us to see our neighbours as ourselves. Only yesterday (Friday), a British Aid worker was slaughtered by ISIS and that is not Islamic,” he told the delegation led by Vice President Namadi Sambo.
He added:” For us as a nation, this period we should use it to charge ourselves, call on ourselves, encourage ourselves to continue to pray for the forgiveness of those who are doing things that are not religious and for Allah to see us through.
“I believe in this country, I believe that Nigeria has a lot to offer not only to Nigerians but to the world and that surely we will get to where we want to go.”
He said that whatever problems confronting Nigeria now  are  “very ephemeral and part of history of nation building” that will disappear in due course.
“If you read the history of all nations, there is no nation that does not pass through some challenges but they got over them and move ahead. I think we are getting over our problems.”
Speaking on the significance of the festival, President Jonathan said:”The hajj is quite unique, we just watched the people who are performing on television. You see that everybody wears the same thing. It shows that the kind of ranks we give to ourselves here are for the earthly journey.
“There, no president, no messenger. That should teach us that we should be humble and be kind to ourselves in the spirit of the moment, giving gifts and that reminds us about the significance of the moment when Abraham was to sacrifice his son, the only one he had, of course, the angel replaced it with a ram. That is the essence of this period.
“This year is quite significant in terms of celebrating Sallah, the Arafat day came on a Friday and from what I was told it takes a long time to have that coincidence and remembering the fact that 2014 is our centenary year, that shows that something good is happening to this country.
“We may have our challenges as other nations but when things begin to happen in a particular way, I begin to see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Vice President Namadi Sambo thanked Jonathan for his continued support to Muslims in Nigeria to enable them perform one of the cardinal pillars of Islam.
He prayed for continued peace in Nigeria and for God to continue to give President Jonathan the wisdom and the strength to lead the nation and to achieve the transformation agenda.
“We will continue to pray so that in the shortest time we will be able to overcome insurgency and other challenges,” he said.
In the Vice President’s  entourage were Police  Inspector General Suleiman Abba;  Primate of the Anglican Communion, the Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh; National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki; Senator Phillip Aduda, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Umar Ghali Na’Abba, ministers and other top government officials.