Sokoto, 31 May, 2021 / 8:21 pm (ACI Africa).
At the celebration of Vigil Mass ahead of the burial of Fr. Alphonsus Bello who was murdered following the May 20 attack on St. Vincent Ferrer Malunfashi Parish of Nigeria’s Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah has faulted the Nigerian government for laxity in ensuring security for citizens.
In his homily during the Monday, May 31 Eucharistic celebration at Our Lady of Apostles Catholic Church, Independent Way, Kaduna, Bishop Kukah called on members of the executive to rethink their oath of office.
“There is nowhere in the world where people are dying like they are in our country. There is nowhere in the world where the barbarity and the treatment of human life are manifested as it is in Nigeria. There is nowhere in the world where citizens can be slaughtered daily without the government showing the slightest sign of empathy or concern for what is going on,” Bishop Kukah bemoaned.
He added, “I think the President of Nigeria and some of the governors can actually address Nigerians and say, fellow Nigerians, I have sworn that I will not protect you. I will not protect you from foreign invaders, I will not protect you from being killed. I will not protect you from being kidnapped, I will not protect you from bandits, I will not protect you from abductors.”
Members of Nigeria’s executive need to rethink their oath of office and say, “I will not protect your children when they are captured; if they are lucky to be alive, fine,” Bishop Kukah said, adding that government officials at both national and State levels need to consider making the following confession, “My dear countrymen and women, know that our own children are not in public schools where they can be kidnapped. If your children are kidnapped, you are on your own."