The Kukah Centre, TKC, has countered what it described as widespread mischaracterisation of remarks made by its founder, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, on the increasing challenges surrounding freedom of religion and the persecution of Christians in Northern Nigeria.
The Centre, in a statement on Monday expressed concern over recent media reports which it said selectively quoted and distorted Bishop Kukah’s comments from two major events.
DAILY POST reports that the events are the launch of the 2025 World Report on Religious Freedom at the Vatican on October 21, and his keynote address at the 46th Supreme Convention of the Knights of St. Mulumba in Kaduna on October 28.
According to the Centre, contrary to claims in the reports, Bishop Kukah has never downplayed the gravity of faith-based persecution in Nigeria. Rather, his long-standing position has been consistent and unequivocal.
TKC, while citing paragraph five of Kukah’s Vatican remarks, noted that the cleric had explicitly condemned the deterioration of security and the state’s failure to curb targeted killings across the country.
“We do have serious problems… The inability of the federal government and its security agencies to end these killings has created the condition for the genocide that has taken over many communities today… In many cases, they are targeted because of their beliefs but also because of their ethnicity,” Bishop Kukah had said.
The Centre stressed that Bishop Kukah’s Kaduna presentation, which traced the historical roots of persecution from the Crucifixion of Christ to the martyrdom of his disciples — was aimed at strengthening Christian communities with messages of faith, solidarity, justice, and healing.
It insisted that the structure of the presentation, clearly validated the current realities of Christian persecution rather than diminishing them.
“These — faith, solidarity, justice, and healing — are goals to which His Lordship has made a life-long commitment and in whose pursuit he yields to no one,” the statement affirmed.