Nigerian Human rights activists and Civil Society Organisations have accused the Federal Government of tacitly supporting threats against the Catholic Bishop Sokoto, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, while calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to take prompt action in ending “the violent threats” against the cleric.
A statement signed by 17 Civil Society Organisations and 13 Human Rights activists expressed concern that in spite of open and repeated violent threats by different Islamic groups against Bishop Kukah’s life, the Federal Government choose instead “refused or wilfully neglected to take any action.”
Part of the statement titled: “THE REGIME OF PRESIDENT BUHARI HAS A DUTY TO BRING TO JUSTICE AND BRING TO AN END THE VIOLENT THREATS TO THE WELLBEING OF BISHOP MATTHEW HASSAN KUKAH” reads:
“The regime of President Muhammadu Buhari has refused or wilfully neglected to take any action against the known persons inciting violence against the person of the Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, in north-west Nigeria. The sequence of notable incidents here include the following:
“In a sermon on Friday, 15 January, 2021, Abubakar Malami, an Islamic cleric based in Sokoto, threatened to kill the Most Rev. Dr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, by ensuring that ‘he will be crucified’ if he challenges government, warning that they ‘will not listen to anybody when we are crucifying him.’
“On Tuesday, 12 January, an unknown group calling itself the ‘Muslim Solidarity Forum’ issued an ultimatum requiring Bishop Kukah to ‘quickly and quietly leave’ his seat in Sokoto, in north-west Nigeria.
“In response to the statement by the Muslim Solidarity Forum, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, on 13 January, issued a statement in which it accused Bishop Kukah deliberately of ‘anti-Islamic rhetoric’.”
The Organizations and activists including: House of Justice, Global Rights, Open Bar Initiative, National Association of Catholic Lawyers, a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Gloria Mballason, and Silas Joseph Onu observed that Bishop Kukah is the latest voice that president Buhari has moved to silence by distorting his Christmas message
Insisting that the cleric’s message made no reference to Muslims, they accused the federal government of slyly supporting the threats against Bishop Kukah.
“Bishop Kukah is the latest independent voice that the regime has moved to silence through targeted intimidation, based on invented, sectarian distortion of his Christmas Day 2020 Message. This is designed deliberately to incite deadly physical harm against him in a region characterized by indiscriminate violence.
“It is notable that the text of the message contains no reference to Muslims.
“In response to the violent threats against Bishop Kukah, the regime has chosen to take no steps but have to the contrary, issued a statement that implicitly lends backing to those who have threatened on sectarian grounds to liquidate Bishop Kukah or run him out of his seat in Sokoto.”
Asserting that Bishop Kukah is unarmed and has right to freedom of movement the group further stated that citizens have the right to demand accountability from their government
“Nigeria’s constitution guarantees a right to freedom of movement within the country to all citizens. Bishop Kukah is a full-blooded citizen of Nigeria. He is also un-armed.
“The conduct of the regime and its spokespersons and supporters is in keeping with a pattern of attacks, intimidation and persecution of voices who have sought to speak truth to the regime in exercise of civic and constitutional rights and duties.
“On New Year’s Day, officers of Nigeria’s security services severely assaulted and injured peaceful citizens, including the publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, exercising their right to symbolic protest as their act of cross-over into the New Year. They were released after 12 days in detention.
“To be clear, citizens have a right and a duty to demand accountability from their government.
“Section 15 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria guarantees the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a state based on the principles of democracy and social justice and confers sovereignty upon the people of Nigeria from whom government through the Constitution derives all its power and authority.
“Section 17(2)(c) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution requires that ‘governmental actions shall be humane’. Bishop Kukah’s Christmas message invited the government to take this charge seriously. Rather than do that, the regime has launched a campaign of dog whistle against him in a pattern consistent with the escalating efforts to shut down Nigeria’s civic space.
“The Nigerian state must be built on the ideals of freedom, equality and justice that can secure every Nigerian equal significance in the affairs of the country.
“The campaign against Bishop Kukah confirms the fear that the regime is reluctant to conform to basic constitutional standards. The regime can end these fears by taking immediate action to bring those threatening Bishop Kukah to justice. As long as it fails to do so, Nigerians and the international community must hold the regime responsible for any harm that befalls Bishop Kukah or any member of Nigeria’s civic community.” the statement concluded
The statement was signed by: House of Justice, Global Rights, TAP Nitiative, SESOR, Open Bar Initiative (OBI), CedarSeed Foundation, We The People, Network of Disabled Women, CEE- HOPE, Centre for Citizens with Disability, CCD, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (C.S.W), Srarina Initiative for Peace Justice and Development (SIPJAD), Kunak Foundation, Resilient Aid and Dialogue Initiative (RADi), Disabled People in Leadership, National Association of Catholic Lawyers (NACL), and Hope Builders;
Others are – Chidi Anselm Odinkalu, Abiodun Baiyewu, Gloria Mabeiam Ballason, Mike Utasha, Silas Joseph Onu, Steven Kefas, David Anyaele, Savn Daniel, Ier Jonathan, Ariyo Dare- Atoye, Ohimai Godwin Amaize, Ken Henshaw, and Okhiria Agbonsuremi.
