Plateau killings: Nigerians losing hope in government’s ability to protect them, says Kukah

Matthew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto diocese, says Nigerians are losing hope in the government to protect their lives.

Kukah said there is a war being waged against the Nigerian state and the people.

The cleric, in a statement issued on Saturday over the recent attacks in Plateau state, wondered why the northern part of the country has become a “birthplace of so much bloodletting”.

“Sadly, with time, Nigerians are gradually losing hope in the ability of their government to protect and secure them,” Kukah said.

On Christmas Eve, over 150 people were killed in 17 communities in Bokkos, Barkin-Ladi, and Mangu LGAs of Plateau state.

Several houses were destroyed by the gunmen during the attacks, leaving many residents displaced.

After the attacks, the federal government promised that the affected communities and victims would get justice.

‘OBJECTS OF MOCKERY’

Kukah said the killers have turned the Nigerian state and security agencies into “objects of mockery”.

The cleric said Nigerians are taking “eerie solace” in the fact that the killers do not respect the boundaries of religion and ethnicity.

“Those invisible men came to the Plateau again, bearing their gifts of death and destruction. They came from the deepest pit of hell, the habitat of the devils that they are. They are children of darkness, sons of Satan,” Kukah said.

“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 – 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?

“We are gradually taking eerie solace in the fact that these killers do not respect the boundaries of religion, region, or ethnicity. We seem to be consoled that they are destroying churches, as well as mosques, killing Christians, as well as Muslims.”

Kukah averred that Nigerians are humiliated and betrayed by “those who are collaborating with these murderers and a government that seems helpless”.

The cleric said the “culture of investigation as excuses must end”, adding that Nigerians, including the media, must hold the government accountable.