In reaction to a comment credited to Matthew Hassan Kukah, Catholic Archbishop of Sokoto Diocese, where he compared the Federal Government with Boko Haram, the minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed warned that such statement could divine the country along religious lines.
In a statement by the minister's Special Assistant, Segun Adeyemi noted that the statement was “not only disingenuous but also a great disservice to the men and women in uniform who are daily battling the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists to keep all Nigerians safe.”
Mohammed reiterated the position of the Federal Government that the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists do not subscribe to any religion, irrespective of their pretense to such, but are driven by their primitive propensity to kill mindlessly and destroy without restraint, irrespective of their victims’ creed, gender or tribe.
The Minister 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.”
The government, however, advised him Bishop Kukah to use his “high ecclesiastical office to work for religious harmony in Nigeria.”
