Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah (left) with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari
The alleged invitation extended to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Rev Mathew Hassan-Kukah, by the Department of State Services (DSS) has been described as false by the spokesperson of the church and the Director of Social Communication in the diocese, Rev Fr Christopher Omotosho.
The clergyman therefore advised members of the public to ignore the rumour when he said, “The news that the bishop was summoned for questioning by the DSS regarding his Christmas message cannot be true, because the bishop has yet to receive either a call or mail from the DSS.”
Following Kukah’s Christmas message, which told truth to power as always, social media was awash with stories of the summons of the bishop by the DSS, a situation that elicited reactions from Nigerians. As a matter of fact, the youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) had threatened to mobilise Christian youths across the nation to accompany the bishop to the DSS headquarters in Abuja.
In a related development, the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) on Monday charged Kukah not to honour an invitation by the DSS concerning his latest Christmas message. It could be recalled that Kukah had berated President Muhammadu Buhari concerning the widespread insecurity bedeviling the country.
Issac John Sirjay, National Youth Leader of SOKAPU, in a statement on Monday, reacting to the invitation of the DSS to Bishop Kukah stated that it is a plot to silence the clergy concerning his statements in recent times. The group also disclosed that former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Obadiah Mailafia is a victim of DSS invitation.
“It observed how the operations in recent times extended invitations to some people who had at one time or the other accepted invitations, particularly persons considered to be critical of the nepotistic and clandestine leadership style of the Buhari administration. “We mourned the sudden demise of Dr Obadiah Mailafia of blessed memory who until his death was a dogged critic of this administration and a regular visitor at one of the DSS facilities,” the statement said.
The statement stated that without ruling out any possibility of harm, it sees the invitation of Bishop Kukah by the DSS a plan to silence the clergy man. It said, “It is unfortunate to note that with the recent declaration of bandits as terrorists by President Buhari, we had anticipated an invitation from the DSS to the likes of Sheikh Gumi who has always fronted and still fronts for terrorist bandit groups, but the reverse is, however, the case. “In light of the above, it suffices to state boldly that the DSS has unarguably deviated from its core mandate of protecting national security and has become a willing tool for the suppression of free speech.”
