Kukah was reportedly invited after his Christmas Day sermon for criticizing Buhari for his failing to stop Boko Haram and bandits
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has criticized the Department of State Services (DSS) for harassing critics of President Muhammadu Buhari, especially those who are Christians.
HURIWA was reacting to the reported invitation by the DSS of the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, after his Christmas Day sermon where President Muhammadu Buhari for failing in his responsibilities in tackling the activities of Boko Haram and bandits in the country.
The late former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Obadiah Mailafia, was once invited by the DSS after he alleged that a governor in the North was the commander of Boko Haram.
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A retired navy commodore, Kunle Olawunmi who accused the government of lacking the will to end terrorism and banditry in the country, was also invited by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
But controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, who has severally been pictured with bandits in their camps, including with the notorious Bello Turji, leader of the bandit group that burned to death 23 travellers in Sokoto, has never been invited by any of the security agencies over his romance with the terrorists.
In a statement on Sunday, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the DSS should rather invite popular Gumi, for hobnobbing with bandits and not Kukah.
In the statement titled, ‘HURIWA to DSS: Stop harassing Christian clerics, be patriotic’, the group said it was unpatriotic, unconstitutional and illegal for the publicly funded security agency to be “manipulated by the powers-that-be in Abuja to be deployed as the attack dogs against only Christian leaders especially those who raise their voices against the heightened state of insecurity in Nigeria whereas the same agency under the control of the executive arm of government has consistently looked the other way when provocative, hate-filled speeches are made by notable Muslim clerics against Christians particularly.”
The statement added, “HURIWA is miffed that a prominent Nigerian bishop has reportedly been ordered in for questioning by a state security agency after the prelate criticized Nigeria’s government for complicity in the face of kidnappings and other persecution of the country’s Christians.
“We condemn this aggression against the Church and against the Body of Christ by the current federal government headed by the Katsina born Moslem former Military General Muhammadu Buhari. This harassment must stop unless this government does not mean well for Nigeria.”