A group of human rights defenders has urged the government of Nigeria to address the threats against the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah.
Bishop Kukah has been vocal in criticising the President Muhammadu Buhari administration over insecurity and other issues in the country.
The cleric, in a 2020 Christmas message, titled ‘A Nation in Search of Vindication’, said, ‘Every honest Nigerian knows that there is no way any non-Northern Muslim president could have done a fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism and gotten away with it.
‘There would have been a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war’.
His remarks generated reactions and counterreactions, with some Nigerians in the north giving him an ultimatum to apologise or leave the north.
But in a statement, the rights group, including former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Professor Chidi Odinkalu, condemned the ultimatum.
‘Bishop Kukah’s Christmas message invited the government to take this charge seriously’, the statement read.
‘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’.
According to the rights defenders, the government’s response to the threats against Kukah may be interpreted as backing those purportedly planning to harm.
They called on the government to build on the ideals of freedom, equality and justice to secure the equal significance of every Nigerian 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’, they said.
‘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’.
Representatives of House of Justice, Global Rights, TAP Initiative, SESOR, Open Bar Initiative (OBI), CedarSeed, We The People, and Network of Disabled Women were some of the rights defenders that signed the statement.
Source: The Nation
Photo source: Femi Adesina
