MURIC flays Kukah over ‘attack’ on Buhari, says Bishop ‘ululating from the wrong side of the pulpit’

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has flayed Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Fr. Hasan Kukah, for suggesting in a statement that there would have been a coup had a Southerner occupied the Nigerian seat of power in the last five years.

MURIC in a statement on Monday issued by its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola described the comments by Bishop Kukah as reckless, inflammatory and unguarded.

In the statement, Professor Akintola also questioned why the cleric never attacked former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is accused of mass land donation to churches during his time in office.

MURIC also accused Bishop Kukah of always being in the habit of trying to demarket any Muslim President, adding that it was disappointed this statement came from no other but the secretary of Nigeria’s Peace Committee.

The statement by MURIC reads thus in part; “The statement by Bishop Kukah is reckless, inflammatory and unguarded. It is the most egregious, luciferous, serpentine and diabolical statement of the year 2020. Hasan Mathew Kukah is ululating from the wrong side of the pulpit.

“Kukah referred to Islam as violent but his fellow faithful, Gana, has been training terrorists and killing Muslims in Benue for years. Kukah lives in the heart of Islam and he has never been attacked. But how dare you mock the North? Are you not part of that geographical entity?

“We can understand Kukah’s frustration. Import duty waivers on every imported good, including private jets, are no longer available. Neither are billion naira contracts at the snap of a finger. A new Sheriff is in town. This is why Kukah has turned to a blackmailer nulli secundus.

READ ALSO: MURIC mocks CAN, Trump for blacklisting Nigeria over alleged violation of religious rights

“Kukah knows those who engage in favouritism but he has chosen to be a pot calling the kettle black. Rev. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) inadvertently revealed the special favours rendered by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to Christians when he was president.

“The revelation was made at Orita Mefa Baptist Church, Ibadan, on Saturday, November 21, 2020 during the funeral service of Obasanjo’s two-term Pastor, Rev. S. T. Ola Akande.

“The CAN president poured encomiums on Obasanjo for favouring Christians during his regime. Among the special favours mentioned were the mass land allocation to the Baptist mission at Kubwa, Abuja; another land allocation to the Baptist in Festac town, Lagos; yet another land allocation to the church in Satellite town and another at highbrow Ikoyi, also for the church.

“No Muslim leader or Islamic organization has accused Obasanjo of favouritism to date. Perhaps Kukah thinks God was asleep during the regime of Obasanjo. But the garrulous bishop now has the temerity to remind Nigerians that God does not sleep.

“Kukah’s reference to a coup is a satanic innuendo. We are aware that civilians have always been involved in coups in the past. Kukah’s interest is therefore not something new.

“But why is Kukah just inciting it? He should be man enough to spearhead it. Go ahead, Kukah, plan a coup. Who knows? You can be vice president. Dare to struggle. Dare to win,” he said.

Ripples Nigeria had on Friday reported that Bishop Kukah had decried the level of nepotism in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Kukah, who spoke on the current development in a statement titled: “A nation in search of vindication,” said there could have been a coup or war in the country if a non- Muslim becomes a president and does a fraction of what Buhari did.

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