The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan-Kukah, says the repeated and unending killings on the Plateau is beyond herder-farmer clashes, adding that the murderers “want their own kind of Nigeria according to their ideology”.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the cleric urged the government to reject the marauders’ goal and safeguard Nigerians.
The preacher denounced the blood-curdling simultaneous attacks by terrorists on villages in Plateau State’s Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas on Christmas Eve.
Over 200 people have been killed in the attacks, and hundreds of homes and farmlands have been destroyed.
Kukah labelled the marauders as “sons of Satan” who “opted to extinguish and snatch the light of the joy of Christmas from thousands of people on the Plateau”.
“There is a method to this madness,” he said in the pensive statement sent to our correspondent by his spokesman, Chris Omotosho. “The choice of location, communities, timings, the seeming hooded identities of the killers mask a fact: we may not know who they are, but someone wants something from the Middle Belt. Stretch your imagination from the emergence of the modern Nigerian state and connect the dots”.
‘A War Is Being Waged Against Nigeria’
According to the fiery cleric, a war is being waged against Nigeria by the enemies of the country.
“We may pretend that we are not at war, but truly, a war is being waged against the Nigerian state and its people. God forbid, but we could snap anytime, anywhere and for any reason,” he said.
“By the banks of the Niger river, on the hills of the Plateau, across the lush savannah of the middle belt, we have sat down and wept.
“We have questions crying for answers: Who are these killers? Where are they coming from? Who is sponsoring them? What are their grouses and against whom? What do they want? Whom do they want? Who are they working for? When will it all end? Why are they invincible and invisible? Who is offering them cover?” he lamented.
Kukah further bemoaned why the north has become “the incubator of all that is destructive? Boko Haram, Banditry and shades of terrorism all live in our region”.
“Can we continue to believe that there is no long-term plan to take over the reins of power of the Nigerian state? These people want power. They want it on their own terms. They want their own kind of Nigeria according to their ideology.
“These killings are just a preface. These killings are no longer acts by herders and farmers over grazing fields. No, there is more and we as a nation will do well to face this threat before it is sunset. No evil lasts forever. The world defeated Slavery, Apartheid, Nazism, Racism, and forms of extremism,” he said.
Kukah said rebuilding the affected communities required more than mere physical infrastructure. “There is need for clearer, more imagined strategies for rebuilding community cohesion and resilience. Rebuilding hearts is more urgent than rebuilding houses,” he said.
According to him, the military cannot continue to suffer intelligence failure. “There is an urgent need to re-set the national security architecture. Enough is enough,” Kukah asserted, adding that the culture of investigation as excuses must end.
He said if investigations are made public and rewards or punishment are carried out, then it builds confidence.