Islamic State (IS) has released a video claiming to show its militants beheading 10 Christian men in Nigeria.
The terror group said it was part of a revenge campaign for deaths of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and its spokesman.
According to Reuters, IS released the video on Thursday with Arabic captions and no audio.
It’s been reported the video showed eleven men lined up all dressed in beige with black masks. The men were blindfolded. Ten of them were beheaded and the eleventh man was shot.
An earlier video seen by Reuters revealed the captives were pleading for the Christian Association of Nigeria and President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and rescue them.
Reuters said it could not authenticate either of the videos.
On Friday Mr Buhari condemned the killings in a series of tweets.
He wrote: “I am profoundly saddened and shocked by the death of innocent hostages in the hands of remorseless, godless, callous gangs of mass murderers that have given Islam a bad name through their atrocities.
“We should under no circumstances let the terrorists divide us by turning Christians against Muslims, because these barbaric killers do not represent Islam and millions of other law-abiding Muslims around the world.
“As a president, the collective security of all Nigerians is my major preoccupation and the death of an innocent Christian or Muslim distresses me.
“No true Muslim would be shouting 'Allahu Akbar’ while killing innocent people, an evil frequently condemned by the Holy Qur'an.
“These agents of darkness are enemies of our common humanity and they don't spare any victim, whether they are Muslims or Christians, and therefore, we shouldn't let them divide us and turn us against one another.
“The goal of these psychopaths is to cause confusion and spread distrust between Muslims and Christians, despite the fact that they aren't representing the interest of Muslims or Islam.”
Most Rev Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury also offered his condolences on Twitter saying:” With deep sorrow let us pray for them and those close to them, and for God’s judgement on their killers. They are martyrs to Christ”.
