BREAKING: 5 killed, 40 injured in London terror attack, Buhari reacts
Following the terror attacks of Wednesday, March 22, President Muhammadu Buhari has sent out a message of hope to Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, and the people of the United Kingdom.
President Buhari condemned Wednesday’s terrorist attack near the United Kingdom Parliament Building at Westminster, London.
The President sympathized with the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, assuring her that the government and people of Nigeria “stand with Britons at this sad and trying moment in their country.”
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According to a statement obtained by Legit.ng, Buhari, noted that “terror attack anywhere in the world is condemnable,” adding that the whole world must join hands to defeat the perpetrators of terrorism.
The statement which was released by special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, noted that the president prayed God almighty will comfort the grieving families and heal the injured.
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Prime Minister Theresa May, who chaired a Cobra meeting this evening, said the full details of the "sick and depraved terrorist attack" were still emerging.
She confirmed there was one attacker and the UK's threat level of "severe" will not change.
"There will be an update from the Metropolitan Police later this evening," she said
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A knife-wielding man went on a deadly rampage in the heart of Britain's seat of power Wednesday, plowing a car into pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge before stabbing a police officer to death inside the gates of Parliament. Five people were killed, including the assailant, and 40 others were injured in what Prime Minister Theresa May condemned as a "sick and depraved terrorist attack."
Lawmakers, lords, staff and visitors were locked down after the man was shot by police within the perimeter of Parliament, just yards (meters) from entrances to the building itself and in the shadow of the iconic Big Ben clock tower. He died, as did three pedestrians on the bridge, and the police officer.
A doctor who treated the wounded from the bridge said some had "catastrophic" injuries. Three police officers, several French teenagers on a school trip and two Romanian tourists were among the casualties.
Police said they were treating the attack as terrorism. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Metropolitan Police counterterrorism chief Mark Rowley said police believed there was only one attacker, "but it would be foolish to be overconfident early on." He said an unarmed policeman, three civilians and the attacker died. Forty others, including three police officers, were injured.
Islamic extremism was suspected in the attack, Rowley said, adding that authorities believe they know the assailant's identity but would not reveal it while the investigation was ongoing.
The threat level for international terrorism in the U.K. was already listed at severe, meaning an attack was "highly likely."
Speaking outside 10 Downing St. after chairing a meeting of government's emergency committee, COBRA, May said that level would not change. She said attempts to defeat British values of democracy and freedom through terrorism would fail.
U.S. President Donald Trump was among world leaders offering condolences, and in Paris, the lights of the Eiffel Tower were to be dimmed in solidarity with London.
London has been a target for terrorism many times over past decades. Just this weekend, hundreds of armed police took part in an exercise simulating a "marauding" terrorist attack on the River Thames.
Wednesday was the anniversary of human-bomb attacks in the Brussels airport and subway that killed 32 people last year, and the latest events echoed recent vehicle attacks in Berlin and Nice, France.
In the House of Commons, legislators were holding a series of votes on pensions when deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle announced that the sitting was being suspended and told lawmakers not to leave.
Parliament was locked down for several hours, and the adjoining Westminster subway station was shuttered.
Conservative lawmaker Tobias Ellwood, whose brother was killed in the Bali terror attack in 2002, performed first aid on the wounded police officer, who later died. About 10 yards away lay the assailant.
"I tried to stem the flow of blood and give mouth to mouth while waiting for the medics to arrive but I think he had lost too much blood," Ellwood said. "He had multiple wounds, under the arm and in the back."
Source: Legit.ng
