UN, UK denounce Borno mosque massacre

The United Nations and the United Kingdom have condemned the killing
of 44 people in Borno State as they prayed in their mosque by the
BokoHaram Islamic sect last Sunday even as the Federal Government
dismissed the threat posed by the sect while conceding that the sect
has destroyed Nigeria's reputation.
Gunmen wearing Nigerian army camouflage fatigues struck under cover
ofdarkness as residents were saying their dawn prayers at around 5:30
a.m. last Sunday, just as another 12 civilians died in a simultaneous
attack on Ngom village just outside Maiduguri, .
While the British Cabinet Minister, Mark Simmonds, yesterday condemned
the attack as "contemptible and cowardly", UN Secretary General, Ban
ki Moon asked for dialogue to resolve the violence.
Meanwhile, Nigeria's Interior Minister, Abba Moro, has dismissed the
attack in the mosque and the Boko Haram threat as "desperate" and
"isolated".
A report in UN News Centre yesterday said the Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon in statement signed by his spokesperson called on all
extremist groups in Nigeria to cease attacks, after 44 people were
killed in Borno State, including worshippers reportedly shot to death
while praying insidea mosque.
"The Secretary-General strongly condemns the recent violent attacks
thathave killed scores of civilians in the localities of Mafa and
Kondugo in Borno State," his spokesperson said in a statement.
Ban called on all parties to resolve their differences through
dialogue andother peaceful means.
"The Secretary-General reiterated his firm conviction that no
objective can be attained through such violence," the spokesperson
stressed.
In his reaction, British Cabinet Minister Mark Simmonds condemned the
attack as "contemptible and cowardly".
"Attacking innocent people in a place of worship is a contemptible and
cowardly act," the Foreign Office Minister for Africa Mark Simmonds
said in a statement Tuesday.
He said Britain "stands with the government and people of Nigeria as
they seek to reduce violence in the north east of the country."
Abba Moro in his reaction told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme
yesterday that, "The security agencies of Nigeria have been able to
push the Boko Haram sect from their major strongholds,"