Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah has said the only difference between the government of President Mohammadu Buhari and Boko Haram is the bomb being used by Boko Haram arguing that government action is fueling Islamic terrorism in the country.
He stressed that the government is using different method of Islamic dominance in the country.
Kukah made this known to Catholic Charity Aid to the Church in Need after the killing of ten Christians by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on Christmas Eve.
The news was first published in the Catholic Herald
He said: “The only difference between the government and Boko Haram is Boko Haram is holding a bomb.”
He added: “They are using the levers of power to secure the supremacy of Islam, which then gives more weight to the idea that it can be achieved by violence. With the situation in Nigeria, it is hard to see the moral basis they have to defeat Boko Haram.
“They have created the conditions to make it possible for Boko Haram to behave the way they are behaving.”
On Boxing Day 2019, ISWAP released a video beheading 10 Christians and shooting one Muslim, saying they were avenging the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghadi, Daesh (ISIS)’s leader, and other senior Daesh members killed during a US raid in October.
Bishop Kukah according to the report monitored on Catholic Herald said the Nigerian government, by packing key government positions with hardline Muslims, gives tacit approval to such groups.
“If the people in power don’t do enough to integrate Christians then they give oxygen to Islamism. If they have countries where everybody is Muslim in power then you give vent to the idea that Islam should be supreme.”
Bishop Kukah also lampooned Western nations who he said are happy to mine the resources of Africa but not defend its people.
He said: “Western nations are not doing enough. They have shown that the resources of Africa are more important than the ordinary people. Clearly, the Western nations could have reduced the influence of Boko Haram by 80 or 90 percent – they have deliberately not done enough.”
Bishop Kukah said that the only thing preventing Nigeria from being engulfed in civil war was the peaceful tenets of Christianity.
He said: “Christians have every reason to feel insecure and also there is a general feeling of their marginalisation from the political process. If the principles of our religion were different, there would be a civil war by now.
“It is the glory of our religion that this hasn’t happened. It is difficult to preach peace in this context. Any resolution depends on how Christians decide to react. They won’t use violence but what will they do?”