Victor EzejaSouthern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) has alleged that the invitation recently extended to the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Mathew Hassan Kukah by the Department of State Services (DSS) was a plot to silence him because of his criticism of the current administration in recent times.
The DSS reportedly invited Bishop Kukah for questioning over comments he made on President Buhari’s administration in his 2021 Christmas message.
The Southern Kaduna socio-cultural group in a statement released on Sunday urged the Catholic Clergy not to honour the purported invitation insisting that it is a ploy to silence him as they have done to some Nigerian activists in the past.
The statement which was signed by the SOKAPU National Youth leader, Issac John Sirjay, which pointed to the case of late former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Obadiah Mailafia.
The group said the agency has over time made it a routine to extent invitation to those who are perceived as ardent critics of President Muhammadu Buhari and advised the Bishop not to honour this one.
The statement reads, “Lately, we mourned the sudden demise of Dr Obadiah Mailafia of blessed memory who until his death was a dogged critic of this administration and a regular visitor at one of the DSS facilities.
“Without ruling out any possibility of harm, we consider the invitation of Bishop Kukah by the DSS as one of such ploy designed to silence him at all cost.
“While we urge the Bishop to ignore such invitation by the DSS for the obvious reasons of threat to life and personal safety, we are urging the DSS to focus on the ravaging impact of insecurity, kidnapping and banditry across the country rather than distracting the Bishop who is only pointing the obvious about the decaying state of the country’s security architecture.
“It is rather unfortunate to note that with the recent declaration of bandits as terrorists by President Buhari, we had anticipated an invitation from the DSS to the likes of Sheikh Gumi who has always fronted and still fronts for terrorist bandit groups but the reverse is, however, the case.
“In light of the above, it suffices to state boldly that the DSS has unarguably deviated from its core mandate of protecting national security and has become a willing tool for the suppression of free speech.
The group called for an independent investigation into the activities of the DSS and stressed the need for “restructuring the institution and its mode of operations in line with global best practices.”
Bishop Kukah had during his homily on Christmas Day, decried the level of insecurity in various parts of NIgeria caused by actitivies of bandits and called on President Muhammadu Buhari and state governors to step up efforts towards addressing cases of kidnapping, killings and religious persecution which on daily basis keep threatening the social order.
“I call on the President, in collaboration with the Governors who are doing their best to preserve and protect their people to develop a more honest, open and robust strategy for ending the humiliation of our people and our restoring social order to our people. We have borne enough humiliation as communities and a country,” Kukah had said.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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