The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria in Abuja says it is in support of the bishop of Sokoto Diocese Matthew Kukah on his Christmas Day message regarding the state of the nation.
Kukah had in his sermon lamented the many woes bedeviling the country and accused President Muhammadu Buhari of nepotism.
He also said that there would have been war or coup if a non-northern Muslim did a “fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism.”
His comments have stirred controversy in the political space, with some northern groups calling for action against the cleric.
However, in a statement issued on Monday by the Catholic secretariat’s national directorate of social communications, the church urged lovers of truth and justice to rise in defence of Kukah against attack on his person and the attempt to discredit the truth in his message.
The statement reads: “We are quite aware of the 2020 Christmas Message by our revered Bishop Hassan Kukah and the enormous space it has enjoyed on social media and in public sphere. As expected, the agents of evil have gathered to attack the person of the Bishop and to discredit the simple obvious truth of the message. This is the stock in trade of evil people. However, they often succeed when good people, Christians, choose to do nothing.
“I am therefore calling our attention to this new development so that we can all rise in unison and stand for truth.”
The church urged the public not to allow ethnic and religious differences be used as tools for discord.
