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The Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, has expressed deep concern following the spat of insurgency in the country, calling on the federal government led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to slate a deadline for the end of terrorism in the country.
He said with the presence of soldiers everywhere “it is impossible to explain how we can say we are in a civilian democracy with the military literally looking like an army of occupation spread across all the 36 states and Abuja.”
Kukah raised the concern in his Easter message made available to journalists in Sokoto.
Kukah said, “This has very serious consequences both for its professionalism, its integrity and perceived role in protecting society. No other person than the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, rightly observed recently that the military is facing the dilemma of what he called, ‘see finish’. It is now difficult to say whether the persistence of insecurity is a cause or a consequence of military ubiquity.”
Kukah, while hailing the recent pronouncement by Tinubu that kidnappers would now be treated as terrorists, urged the President to go a step further by giving a specific date to rid the nation of the insurgency.
On the need to bring insecurity to an end, the cleric said, “It is cheering to hear that the President has announced that kidnapping and banditry are now to be treated as acts of terrorism. If so, we need to see a relentless and implacable plan to end this menace with a definite dateline for bringing these terrorists to their knees, no matter what it will take. Without a timeline for eliminating these evils – the despicable, malevolent and execrable demons from among us.”
Kukah said in spite of the gloomy outlook of the situation of things in the country, better days were around the corner.
