Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. Photo: World Economic Forum.

JNS.org – Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan expressed solidarity with Israel in the face the Islamic terrorism and condemned the recent kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas terrorists.

“Given Nigeria’s experience with the scourge of terrorism, I assure you that we are in solidarity with you, as we believe that any act of terrorism against any nation or group is an act against our common humanity,” Jonathan wrote in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

“We unequivocally condemn this dastardly act and demand that the children are released unconditionally by their abductors,” he wrote.

The remarks by Jonathan come nearly two months after the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped nearly 300 Nigerian schoolgirls. Efforts to locate the girls are ongoing.

Israel enjoys close relations with Nigeria, as is the case for its ties to many sub-Saharan African nations. Jonathan became the first Nigerian president to visit Israel last October, inking an aviation deal that will make it easier for tens of thousands of Nigerian Christians to make pilgrimages to Israel’s holy sites.