The executions were meant to “avenge” US assassination of leader in SyriaMembers of the Islamic State executed 11 Christians in Nigeria, according to a video released by ISIS’ “news agency” Amaq.
The 56-second video of the killings was released on December 26, and, according to the BBC, shows one captive being shot dead, while 10 others are beheaded.
According to the report, members of ISIS said the male victims, which the video said were captured in the past few weeks, were Christians killed in retaliation for the US assassination of ISIS’ leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in October.
President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the killings, which he described as an attempt to divide Muslims and Christians in Nigeria.
“We should, under no circumstance, let the terrorists divide us by turning Christians against Muslims because these barbaric killers don’t represent Islam and millions of other law-abiding Muslims around the world,” he said in a statement.
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), is a faction of the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram which broke away in 2016.
According to the BBC, ISWAP is responsible for killing four aid workers in northeastern Nigeria earlier this week. Last year, they murdered two midwives they had taken hostage.
