Catholic bishop of Sokoto Diocese Matthew Kukah on Monday revealed he has paid about N30 million as ransom to get back some of the priests in his diocese who were abducted.
“I am the bishop of Sokoto Diocese, I have spent about N30m the money I don’t have because my priests were kidnapped and I have nowhere to turn to,” Kukah said at a one-day forum on political communication.
The “High-level forum on political communication and issue-based campaign in the 2023 general elections” was organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, in partnership with The Kukah Centre.
“I am not ashamed to say it because these are essential realities. Anyone who wants to become president of Nigeria cannot pretend to stand before me without giving me empirical evidence from his or her record about how they intend to deal with these issues because there is a collective feeling of alienation,” he added.
Kukah said Nigerians do not need a messiah but one who truly understands the situation of things.
Narrating another challenge he has, the clergyman said, “Before coming here, I was speaking with my brother, because two days ago, my nephew, his mother, and the driver were on their way to Abuja when they ran into the hands of kidnappers.
“My brother’s wife had an amputation some three months ago and they were bringing her to Abuja, so when the kidnappers saw the stomp on her leg, they had mercy on her and let her go.
“Right now, as we speak, my nephew and the driver of the vehicle are currently in the hands of the kidnappers, how it is going to end? I don’t know. Then they said they wanted N50m, they then said they wanted N20m, now they are staying on N30m.”
