The Federal Government on Friday warned the Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Fr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, against indulging in “actions that are capable of dividing the country along religious lines”.
The regime, however, advised him to use his “high ecclesiastical office to work for religious harmony in Nigeria”. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, gave the warning in a statement by his Special Assistant, Segun Adeyemi. He was reacting to a statement credited to the Reverend, in which he compared the Federal Government with Boko Haram.
The government said it was “not only disingenuous but also a great disservice to the men and women in uniform who are daily battling the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists to keep all Nigerians safe”.
According to Mohammed, the position of the retired Major General Muhammadu Buhari regime is that the terrorists do not subscribe to any religion, irrespective of their presence.
He said they were being driven by “their primitive propensity to kill mindlessly and destroy without restraint, irrespective of their victims’ creed, gender or tribe”.
He added, ‘’To now attribute the actions of these mad bunch to an orchestrated and systematic plan to elevate one religion over the other or decimate adherents of a particular religion is not only unfortunate but divisive, incendiary and insensitive.”
The information minister appealed to religious leaders to be “more circumspect in their comments, especially on religious issues, because of the deeply emotive nature of religion and the tendency for it to be exploited for political gains by naysayers”.
Nwada Ugochinyere Onyechere reporting, Obinwannem News
