New Zealand killings ‘acts of lowly cowardice’ – Mahama

Former President John Mahama has condemned the bloody shooting incident at two mosques in New Zealand describing it as “lowly acts of cowardice”.

Mahama in threads of tweets poured out his heart to the affected families and advised against the killing of innocent people in the name of religion.

“Our hearts are with all victims, their families and the people of New Zealand following the cowardly terrorist attacks against Muslims at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand,” he said in one of his tweets.

He adds, “There must be no place in the world for terrorists, hiding under the cloak of ideology or creed, to visit violence on innocent citizens on the basis of their faith. We pray for healing & strength for the wounded. May their spirits never be broken by these lowly acts of cowardice.”

The 2020 Presidential Candidate of the National Democratic Congress further advised Ghana to draw lessons from the New Zealand incident and kick against any form of political vigilantism as activities of such groups have dent on Ghana’s democracy.

”But while we pray for New Zealand, we must take proactive steps to curb any adverse effects on our democracy by our own homegrown brand of partisan militant vigilantes,” he cautioned.

49 people were killed Friday by a shooter rampaging through the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Mosque In Christchurch with an arsenal of high-powered guns.

What has been described a terrorist attack is believed to be perpetrated by a white nationalist extremist who posted a racist manifesto online and streamed live video of the attacks on Facebook.

Police in New Zealand confirmed that 41 people were killed at Al Noor Mosque and seven at Linwood Mosque, and another victim died at Christchurch Hospital.

So far, three men and one woman had been arrested.

The key suspect, Brenton Harrison Tarrant has been charged with one count of murder but would face additional charges.

He will remain in custody for a further hearing on April 5.