By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA — FORMER President Muhammadu Buhari has joined Christians all across the world in mourning the demise of the Head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, who departed the earth on Easter Monday.

In a reaction to the news of the death, the former President said Christians in Nigeria and all over the world would miss the exemplary leadership of the church  by a pope who served the poor and the weak, and cared much about migrants and refugees.

Buhari in a statement by his media aide, Mallam Garba Shehu, was quoted as saying: “He was a Pope who strove to build a beneficial, complementary relationship between the followers of the world’s two greatest religions- Islam and Christianity.

“Just hours before his demise, he made a call for an end to the war in Gazzah. I hope Israel and Hamas will head this his call as a final respect to the Pope who had the distinction of bringing climate change to the Vatican and recognising the Palestinian State.”

The former President wished for a new leader who would build on the inspiring legacies of Pope Francis.