Religious Persecution: Watch your mouth — Lai Mohammed tells Bishop Kukah

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has responded to Bishop Matthew Kukah's recent statement where he accused the Buhari administration of not doing enough to protect Christians in the country, and that his political appointments gives credence to the claims that his government is indeed, out to Islamize the country.



The revered Catholic Bishop then likened Buhari's actions to that of Boko Haram saying there's no difference since they are both working towards achieving similar goals albeit using different methods.

Kukah also added that the only reason Nigeria is still together as a nation, is because Christians are extremely tolerant despite all the persecutions they are subjected to, on a regular basis.


He said, "The only difference between the Federal Government and Boko Haram is that Boko Haram is holding a bomb. The Federal Government is using different methods to achieve the same goal of Islamic dominance.




"They are using the levers of power to secure the supremacy of Islam which then gives more weight to the idea that it can be achieved by violence. They have created the conditions to make it possible for Boko Haram to behave the way they are behaving."

"If the people in power don’t do enough to integrate Christians, then they give oxygen to Islamism. If they have countries where everybody in power is Muslim, then you give vent to the idea that Islam should be supreme," he added.



But the Buhari administration sees things differently. In its response to Kukah via Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Buhari administration warned Bishop Kukah against stirring the pot of religions discord and disunity in the country.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, Lai Mohammed, said the statement credited to Bishop Kukah, in which he compared the Federal Government with Boko Haram, is not only disingenuous, but also a great disservice to the men and women in uniform who are daily battling the Boko Haram and ISWAP to keep all Nigerians safe.


”Attributing the actions of these mad bunch to an orchestrated and systematic plan to elevate one religion over the other or decimate adherents of a particular religion is not only unfortunate but divisive, incendiary and insensitive,” he said.

Alhaji Mohammed appealed to religious leaders to be more circumspect in their comments, especially on religious issues, because of the deeply emotive nature of religion and the tendency for it to be exploited for political gains by naysayers.