Insecurity: Bishop Kuka Tells Nigerian Leaders To Stop Taking Oaths They Cannot Fulfill
The Bishop, while speaking at the funeral of a Reverend father, lambasted office holders in Nigeria.
Matthew Hassan Kuka, the Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Sokoto, has lamented the sharp contrast between the oaths political office holders took and the heightened insecurity across the country, advising that politicians should stop taking oaths they could not fulfill.
Bishop Kuka was speaking in Kaduna, on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 at the funeral mass organised for late Rev. Fr. Alphonsus Yashim Bello, a Catholic Priest in Katsina, who was killed by terrorists on Friday, May 21, 2021.
“The continued barbaric slaughter and murder of our people in their innocence suggest that our beautiful Presidential Villa, our National Assembly, our beautiful government houses, the private jets, the private jeeps, the exotic homes are not evidence of civilisation because we are far from the frontiers of civilisation,” Kukah said.
Continuing, Bishop Kuka suggested that political office holders should have a new oath form: “Fellow citizens, you are on your own. Your security is in your own hands. Keeping you safe is not our immediate priority. Foreign bandits or anyone for that matter can come at will, kill, loot, rape, kidnap and murder you.”
“They (bandits) can wipe out your communities, destroy your homes, your farmlands, properties and so on. They can kidnap or murder your children at will. They can rustle your cattle. If they kidnap your children, your wives or husbands, we will consider you criminals for negotiating for their release with the bandits.”
“We are preparing a law that could see you go to jail for 15 years for this heinous crime against your fatherland.”
“You do not have our permission to negotiate with bandits. Do not bother telling us when you bring back your loved ones (after all you have committed an offence). Do not expect us at your funerals. If you want to come and formally tell us how many have been killed or kidnapped in your community, you have to find your way to Abuja or your state capital.”
“We cannot come to console you because we may be guilty by association. Our wives and children are safely in government houses and they move around with bullet proof cars and escorts.”
“We are not here by our choice. We did not stage a coup. You elected us and we will choose how to govern you. Be warned.”
Kuka further described the country’s political office holders as insensitive to the heightened insecurity across the country.
“Those who govern us are allowing this to happen, we can only say what is obvious: they have no blood in their hearts,” he maintained.
Rev. Fr. Yashim was kidnapped by the terrorists alongside Rev. Fr. Joseph Keke in Katsina on May 21, 2021. Yashim was killed on the same day.
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