The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Reverend Matthew Kukah, has raised alarm over Nigeria’s worsening security situation, describing the scale of daily killings across the country as unprecedented anywhere in the world.
Kukah spoke on Sunday in Yola, Adamawa State, during the launch of The Man They Could Not Stop, a book on Governor Ahmadu Fintiri authored by his former Director-General of Media and Communication, Solomon Kumangar.
According to the cleric, Nigeria has become dangerously polarised along religious lines — a trend he said is being amplified by Western media coverage.
“What is happening in Nigeria cannot happen in Sudan, Cameroon, Niger, Ghana, or any other country,” Kukah said. “There is nowhere else where 10 people are killed on Monday, 50 on Tuesday, 100 on Wednesday, and it continues week after week. How can such a country move forward?”
He added that deaths in Nigeria are increasingly framed through religious identity, noting that reports often highlight whether victims are Christians or Muslims.
“Only in Nigeria do people die as Christians and Muslims,” he said. “The Western media fuels this narrative — 20 Christians killed, 30 Muslims killed.”
Kukah urged political and religious leaders to prioritise building strong institutions capable of fostering unity, peace, and national development. He also praised former Independent National Electoral Commission chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega for his role in resolving the 2023 governorship crisis in Adamawa State.
