By Musa Ubandawaki, SOKOTO

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah has said the massacre of Nigerians in Plateau was another marker that there is war against the Nigerian state and people, and that the country could snap.

Also, Bishop Kukah said the men that carried out the Plateau massacre were from the deepest pit of hell.

Read Also: Senate blames Plateau massacre on military intelligence failure

The Bishop also labelled the killers as children of darkness and sons of Satan who opted to extinguish and snatch the light of the joy of Christmas from thousands of people on the Plateau.

The Bishop made the remarks in a statement while reacting to killings in parts of Plateau state in Sokoto.

The massacre

Recall that on Christmas eve, some armed men killed many residents during attacks on 17 communities in Bokkos and Barkin-Ladi LGAs of Plateau state.

The attacks occurred on December 23 and continued to 24 while residents were preparing for Christmas celebrations.

Meanwhile, so far, the death toll has surpassed 200, and still counting.

Bishop Kukah

Reacting to the Plateau massacre, Kukah said the killers wanted to ignite an orgy of blood, seduce the ordinary peace-loving people of the Plateau and set them on a mission of mindless murder of fellow citizens in the name of retaliation.

Kukah further stated that the world would then say that this is was a religious war – Christians killing Muslims – to ignite a larger war.

Kukah said: “Over the years, these murderers have left their footprints of blood and tears across the length and breathe of the entire northern states, indiscriminately wrecking destruction across large swaths of land and communities.

“In all this, the Nigerian state and its security agencies are blind-sided, seemingly incapable of cleaning up this augean stable of sorrow and pain in our land.

“These killers have turned the Nigerian state and its security agencies into objects of cynicism, mockery and mere lachrymal spectators daily accompanying funeral processions. Across the country, these funerals and the coffins are now part of our landscape.

“Sadly, with time, Nigerians are gradually losing hope in the ability of their government to protect and secure them. While we religious leaders have continued to use our moral authority to encourage our people not to take the laws into their hands, we risk being swept away by the anger and frustration of our people.

“We even risk being seen as accomplices to an erring state.

“The Nigerian state itself risks becoming an undertaker in the eyes of its citizens. Our cups of sorrow are overflowing. We have cried enough tears.

“We may pretend that we are not at war. But truly, a war is being waged against the Nigerian state and its people. God forbid, but we could snap anytime, anywhere and for any reason.

“The banks of the Niger river, on the hills of the Plateau, across the lush savannah of the middle belt, we have sat down and wept. We have questions crying for answers:

“Who are these killers? Where are they coming from? Who is sponsoring them? What are their grouses and against whom? What do they want? Whom do they want? Who are they working for?

“When will it all end? Why are they invincible and invisible? Who is offering them cover? Are we condemned to live with this and hand this broken nation to our children?

“Should we all just become inoculated and sedated to make all this bearable? Who will supply the opium to dull our pain? Are we sleep walking to self-destruction?

“Why has the north become the birthplace of so much bloodletting? Why have these killings seen as tools of negotiation with the Nigerian state by the protectors of the north? Why has our north become the incubator of all that is destructive?

“Boko Haram, banditry and shades of terrorism all live in our region. Why is this so? These killers are not ordinary murderers.

“We are tired of the confusing, inexcusable. monosyllabic excuses saying this is an asymmetrical war, we are on top of the situation.

“We, citizens of Nigeria, feel collectively humiliated and betrayed by those who are collaborating with these murderers and a government that seems helpless.

“Can we continue to believe that there is no long-term plan to take over the reins of power of the Nigerian state?

“These people want power. They want it on their own terms. They want their own kind of Nigeria according to their ideology.

“These killings are just a preface. These killings are no longer acts by herders and farmers over grazing fields. No, there is more and we as a nation will do well to face this threat before it is sunset.

“No evil lasts forever. The world defeated slavery, Apartheid, Nazism, racism, and forms of extremism,” the statement read in part.

Vanguard News