Heavily-armed gunmen went on a shooting rampage in the Ivory Coast resort of Grand-Bassam on March 13, killing at 16 people and leaving bodies strewn on the beach in the the first attack of its kind in the country. One witness told AFP they heard one of the assailants shouting “Allahu Akbar” — Arabic for “God is greatest”, but there has not yet been any claim of responsibility.
/ AFP / ISSOUF SANOGO
• Appoints Radda DG SMEDAN
President Muhammadu Buhari has unreservedly condemned Sunday’s terrorist attack on the Grand Bassam Resort in Cote D’Ivoire.
Meanwhile, the President has appointed the Chief of Staff to the Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda to head the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
In a telephone call to his Ivorian counterpart, President Alassane Ouattara after the attack, Buhari conveyed the sympathy of the Federal Government and people of Nigeria to the people of Cote D’Ivoire as they mourn their compatriots and foreign visitors who lost their lives in the attack.
Buhari assured his Ivorian counterpart of Nigeria’s full solidarity and support as his country grapples with the consequences of the heinous attack and strives to overcome the new security challenges posed by the terrorist incursion.
Remarking once again that terrorism now transcends all national boundaries, President Buhari restated his call for greater international cooperation against terrorists and their sponsors.
“They have attacked a hotel in Mali, leaving 21 people dead. They killed over 130 people in attacks on Paris and they murdered 28 persons in Burkina Faso.
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