The President of the African Confederation of Old Catholic Churches, Most Rev. Dr. Oluwaseun Fagbohun, has called on the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, to issue an unreserved apology to Christians, Nigerians, and the international community for his recent remarks on terrorism and insecurity in the country.
In his New Year message, Bishop Fagbohun accused Bishop Kukah of maintaining “troubling silence” despite allegedly being aware of terrorist activities within his ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Sokoto State. He criticized Kukah for previously stating that Christians were not being persecuted by insurgent groups, describing the claim as misleading and inconsistent with the experiences of many Christian communities.
“Bishop Kukah has not only betrayed the Christian faith but also the trust of the nation by pretending not to know that terrorists are operating within his jurisdiction,” Fagbohun stated.
He argued that several Christian families have suffered displacement, loss of lives, destruction of worship centers, and trauma due to terrorism, and that denying these realities undermines both victims and the moral authority of the church.
Fagbohun further questioned Kukah’s frequent engagements with national leadership, implying that such access should have been used to expose security threats. “He is always at the Villa taking pictures here and there, wining and dining with our nation’s leadership. What does he go there to say?” Fagbohun asked.
He urged Kukah to apologize publicly to restore confidence in his advocacy and called on Christian leaders across denominations to speak more boldly against terrorism without political or ethnic considerations.
Bishop Kukah, a prominent social critic and public intellectual, has not yet responded publicly to the call for an apology.
