The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has drawn what many described as battle lines with President Muhammadu Buhari and security agencies in the country should anything happen to Bishop Matthew Kukah of the Sokoto Catholic Diocese, following his incitement of coup against the democratically elected government and blackmailing of Islam as a violent religion in his Christmas message.
It also warned that Kukah’s safety must not be compromised.
This is contained in a statement by General Secretary of the association, Joseph Daramola, and made available to newsmen on Thursday.
Although Kukah has not given generally acceptable analysis to prove that he didn’t mean incitement of coup by the chosen words he used in the message, neither did he bother to deny his blackmailing of Islam, Catholic Secretariat and CAN, not withstanding, have thrown their weights behind him to the angers of the pro-government Nigerians and dismay of Muslims, who have taken on the Presidency for watching Kukah and other Christian leaders run down Muslims and their religion without the security organisations arresting them.
The Muslim Support Forum (MSF) on Tuesday threatened Bishop Kukah to apologise for his Chrisatmas message, which it said was aimed against Muslims and Islam or vacate the state.
“We have been watching the unfolding scenario since Bishop Kukah spoke his mind on the State of the Nation in his Christmas homily and how some groups of people have been threatening him with fire and brimstone while all relevant security agencies are pretending as if nothing unusual is happening.
“We wonder if those threatening the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto are above the law or if they are sacred cows in the country.
“We have studied the whole Christmas message of Dr Kukah and we are yet to see any incitement against Islam or non- Christians. We see nothing wrong in his message to the nation that has been under the siege of terrorists, herdsmen killers, bandits and kidnappers as if there was no government in place. We see nothing wrong in telling a government whose lopsided appointments are against Christians the whole truth.
“If criticism against a Muslim President today, is an incitement to violence against Islam, it then means those who were criticising the duo of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan when they were in power were actually attacking Christianity.
“When has it become an offence to speak the truth to power? When has it become a crime to criticise a government in the country?
“When did the Police and the Directorate of the State Security Services lose their power to miscreants and lawless people who are making boasts of their lawlessness without a challenge? We wonder if those Muslim groups who are threatening to deal with Kukah got equal response from their Christian counterparts, are we not setting up the country on fire?
“Bishop Kukah was posted to serve in Sokoto by the Papacy and threatening him to leave is a global threat to Christianity. In this same country, we have a Catholic Priest whose name is synonymous with President Muhammadu Buhari yet the Catholic Church has not deemed it fit to sanction him because Freedom of Speech and Association is not only a constitutional matter but godly.
“We call on President Muhammadu Buhari and all the security agencies to ensure that no harm befalls the Catholic Bishop of the Sokoto Diocese, Dr Matthew Hassan Kukah. As far as the Christian Association of Nigeria is concerned, what he said in his Christmas Homily was still within the ambience of the law,” CAN stated.
