A group of Muslims scholars and clerics under the aegis of The Muslim Solidarity Forum has asked the Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese, Bishop Matthew Kukah, to apologise for his alleged “attack” on Islam and Muslims or leave the Caliphate.
The group said this over Bishop Kukah’s 2020 Christmas Day message which according to them was an insult on Muslims and was capable of triggering religious violence in the country.
Kukah accused President Muhammadu Buhari of promoting northern hegemony and nepotism, adding that there could have been a coup if a non-northern Muslim president had done a fraction of what the President has done since he assumed office in 2015.
At a press conference in Sokoto on Tuesday, January 12, the Acting Chairman of the Muslim forum, Sokoto chapter, Prof. Isa Muhammad Maishanu, said the message of the cleric was a direct attack on Islam.
He stated that Kukah, with his unbecoming callous statement, was trying to break the age-long peaceful coexistence between the predominantly Muslim population and their Christian guests.
Maishanu said this is not the first time Kukah is attacking Islam and Muslims, especially those from the northern part of the country.
The acting chairman expressed that Kukah accusing Muslims of possessing a character of violence is provocative.
Maishanu expressed concern that Kukah, who lives in the heart of Sokoto caliphate, can make such a statement because of his perceived ‘hatred‘ for Islam and Muslims even when he calls himself apostle of peace.
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He stated that if Muslims in Sokoto responded to Kukah’s alleged incessant provocative attacks on them and their religion, peace could elude the country.
Maishanu said Kukah needs to apologise to Islam and Muslims for his alleged attacks on them or quietly vacate Sokoto state.
He expressed;
These callous statements are becoming of someone who parades himself a secretary to the National Peace Committee and a member of Nigeria Inter-religious Council. As such, we call on Kukah to immediately stop his malicious vituperation against Islam and Muslims and tender unreserved apology to the Muslim Ummah or else quickly quietly leave the seat of Caliphate, as he is trying to break the age- long peaceful coexistence between the predominantly Muslim population and their Christian guests.
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Significantly, the call from the Muslim Solidarity Forum, comes amidst allegation by Department of State Services of a plot to incite religious violence in some states by some elements working with external forces.
