Denver Newsroom, 11 January, 2022 / 9:00 pm (ACI Africa).
Following Nigerian media reports over the weekend that a Catholic bishop had been summoned for questioning by a state security agency, the bishop in question says he is "fine" and that "the matter [has] actually passed."
Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah told CNA in a Jan. 11 email that “For now, [I] am very fine and have been in my village for a week now.”
Kukah, who leads the Sokoto diocese in Nigeria’s northwestern corner, criticized Nigeria’s government for complicity in the face of kidnappings and other persecution of the country’s Christians in a 2021 Christmas message.
Reports surfaced in Nigerian media last weekend that the State Security Service, a federal secret police force, reportedly took notice of Kukah’s remarks and ordered him to present himself for questioning, according to an unnamed source cited by the People’s Gazette.
Kukah’s email to CNA comes amid a number of Nigerian media reports from Monday, which reported that Kukah has yet to receive any communication from the SSS, citing a Sokoto diocesan spokesperson. CNA asked Kukah for clarification on this point and is awaiting a response.