Saudi-led coalition ‘has nothing to do with Islam’

Godfrey Onyema, minister of foreign affairs, says Saudi Arabia-led coalition against terrorism, has nothing to do with Islam or any religion.

Onyema made this declaration in Abuja on Monday, less than 48-hours after the president declared in an interview with Aljazeera, that Nigeria is part of the Islamic coalition against terror.

“We are part of the Islamic coalition because we have got terrorists in Nigeria, which everybody knows and the terrorists claim to be Islamic,” he had said.

“So, if there is an Islamic coalition to fight terrorism, we will be part of it because we are casualties of Islamic terrorism.

“Boko Haram has declared loyalty to ISIS and ISIS is based in Islamic countries, and if there is a coalition to fight them why shouldn’t we be part of it, particularly when those fighting the country claim to be Muslims, although what they are doing is against Islam.”

When asked if non-Muslims would not feel that he is attempting to change the religious identity of the country, Buhari said: “Why can’t those Christians that complain fight terrorism in Nigeria or fight the militants in the south? It’s Nigeria that matters, not the opinion of the religious bigots.”

The minister however said the coalition has nothing to do with Islam or the Islamic faith, emphasizing that Islamic people want to be in the fore front of the battle against terror.

“There is naturally a tendency to show that this has nothing to do with Islam. Terrorism has nothing to do with Islam,” he said.

“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.”