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DSS alarm: Muslim group orders Kukah, ‘Apologise or leave Sokoto’
BY NICHOLAS ABE
Barely a day after the Department of State Service (DSS) alerted the nation to plot by unnamed persons to incite religious violence in Nigeria, a religious group, Muslim Solidarity Forum, has ordered the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah, to apologise for his 2020 Christmas homily or leave Sokoto, the seat of Caliphate.
The group demanded that Kukah tendered unreserved apology to the entire Muslim Ummah over his “malicious comments” against Islam, in his Christmas day homily, where the Christian cleric pointedly accused President Muhammadu Buhari of unmitigated nepotism.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the acting chairman of the forum, Professor Isa Muhammad Maishanu maintained that Kukah’s statements were capable of breaking the age-long peaceful coexistence among religious faithful in the country.
He said: “Our intention at Muslim Solidarity Forum is not to hold brief for the President, as he has those who are paid to do that; rather our concern is the image and reputation of Muslims, which Mr. Kukah finds pleasure in attacking without an iota of caution, and by referring to him as a Muslim, that automatically brings all Muslims in the issue.
“The Bishop has the penchant to speak in parables and innuendos. His reference to a people who possess ‘a pool of violence to draw from’ no doubt is a reference to those he has always characterized with violence – the Muslims. This is a serious provocation.
READ: Kukah: Buhari has First Class in Nepotism – ECWA to MURIC, others
“He even has the gut to say the killings we are witnessing in Nigeria are part of a grand religious design! Religious? Who are the victims of the killings? What religion do they profess? Is it not a fact that over 90% of those being killed are Muslims? Who is behind the so-called design?
“These callous statements are unbecoming of someone who parades himself as secretary to National Peace Committee and a member of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC), as such, we call on Kukah to immediately stop his malicious vituperations against Islam and Muslims and tender unreserved apology to the Muslim Ummah or else quickly and quietly leave the seat of Caliphate, as he is trying to break the age-long peaceful coexistence between the predominantly Muslim population and their Christian guests.”
According to the forum, “the sensible and objective world knows the truth! We wonder how Kukah who lives peacefully and comfortably in the heart of the Sokoto Caliphate can make such a callous and senseless statement.”
The DSS had on Monday raised alarm that there was a plot to incite religious violence in Sokoto, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Rivers, Oyo, Lagos, and some states in the South East.
DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya, in a statement titled, ‘Plots to incite religious violence in Nigeria’, also warned that some worship centres and religious leaders may be attacked.
Bishop Kukah has continued to face mounting opposition, especially from Muslim groups, since he delivered his Christmas message in Sokoto.
The Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), the apex Muslim organisation in Nigeria, had last week Wednesday literally proclaimed fatwa on the Catholic Bishop, while reacting to the Christmas message.
“How can the Muslims ever trust a man who smiles at their faces in the day and hold dagger against them in the night? How can the Muslims continue to be hospitable to the one who proves to be ingrate many times over? How can the Muslims be comfortable in associating with a bitterly vindictive person disguised in the garb of religious clergy?” the JNI had queried in a statement signed by Dr Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, Secretary-General, and issued to journalists in Kaduna.
READ: Another warning shot from Kukah, ‘Darkness is setting in’
But Kukah, in his response to the various reactions to his speech, said he was merely expressing his opinion based on his understanding of the issues in Nigeria, adding that he did not have issue with any religious group.
“I am pained and very sad that my emergency critics never see that many innocent lives are being lost on a daily basis. The loss of lives in the last ten years, even before the advent of this administration, calls for concern.
“The reactions are a reflection of every citizen that make up Nigeria. It is sad that when you drop something in Nigeria, everybody goes back to their enclave and abandon the larger picture. I am someone who never takes offense to what people say about me.
“What I said was my opinion based on evidence and what has happened in Nigeria, and if you looked into the records, there is evidence that justifies that statement, and if anyone thinks I am wrong, they should come out with a superior position,” Kukah told a select gathering of the media.