Bishop Mathew Kukah of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese has joined many Nigerians in criticizing recent killings in Plateau state, claiming that citizens of Nigeria are rapidly losing faith in their government’s ability to protect them.
In a statement signed personally and made accessible to newsmen on Saturday evening, Bishop Kukah stated that religious leaders, both Muslim and Christian, had continued to utilize moral authority to advise their people not to take laws into their own hands.
Kukah’s statement comes on the heels of suspected terrorists killing over 150 people in Plateau State on Christmas Eve.
The statement partly reads, “They came from the deepest pit of hell, the habitat of the devils that they are. They are children of darkness, sons of Satan. They opted to extinguish and snatch the light of the joy of Christmas from thousands of people on the Plateau.
“They imagined they would ignite an orgy of blood, seduce the ordinary peace-loving people of the Plateau, and set them on a mission of mindless murder of fellow citizens in the name of retaliation. The world would then say that this was a war of religion, with Christians killing Muslims to ignite a larger war. So far, over two hundred lives are gone, and we are still counting, but what next, where next, and who next?
“Over the years, these murderers have left their footprints of blood and tears across the length and breadth of the entire northern states, indiscriminately wreaking destruction across large swaths of land and communities.
“In all this, the Nigerian state and its security agencies are blind-sided, seemingly incapable of cleaning up this Augean stable of sorrow and pain in our land.
He went on to say that religious leaders who have been warning their followers not to take laws into their own hands risk being carried away by our people’s anger and discontent.
It continued, “We even risk being seen as accomplices to an erring state. The Nigerian state risks becoming an undertaker in the eyes of its citizens. Our cups of sorrow are overflowing. We have shed enough tears. We may pretend that we are not at war, but truly, a war is being waged against the Nigerian state and its people. God forbid, but we could snap anytime, anywhere, and for any reason.
“By the banks of the Niger River, on the hills of the Plateau, across the lush savannah of the middle belt, we have sat down and wept. We have questions crying for answers: Who are these killers? Where are they coming from? Who is sponsoring them? What are their grouses, and against whom? What do they want? Who do they want? Who are they working for? When will it all end?
“Why are they invincible and invisible? Who is offering them cover? Why has the North become the birthplace of so much bloodletting? Why have these killings been seen as tools of negotiation with the Nigerian state by the protectors of the North? Why has our North become the incubator of all that is destructive? Boko Haram, banditry, and shades of terrorism all live in our region. Why is this so?
“These killers are not ordinary murderers. They are killers for a purpose. It is the task of the intelligence community to tell us who they are, where they live, and what their goals are. These killers are professionals; are they Nigerians, or do they have just Nigerian sponsors? Their sponsors are among us. They must be in high places. They are now embedded in the architecture of the state. President Tinubu must know that the legitimacy of his government hangs on resolving this and giving us our country back.”
He did, however, praise the government’s response to the killing in Plateau State.
“Unlike before, when no one bothered to visit the scenes, we are seeing very rapid responses from the top. This is necessary but not sufficient as a strategy. Rebuilding these communities requires more than mere physical infrastructure,” the statement added.
