The bishop challenged widespread claims of widespread anti-Christian atrocities, stating that many figures in circulation \u2014 such as reports that 1,200 churches are burned annually \u2014 are not backed by any credible or verifiable data.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are saying that 1,200 churches are burnt in Nigeria every year, and I ask myself \u2014 in which Nigeria? Nobody approached the Catholic Church to get accurate data. The figures being circulated cleverly avoid the Catholic Church because they know Catholics do not indulge in hearsay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet his comments continue to spark debate, especially among Christian groups, even within Catholic circles where archbishops have spoken out against Christians killings with Bishop of Makurdi Diocese, Wilfred Anagbe, labelling them as genocide.<\/p>\n In June, he renewed urgent warnings over escalating violence in Benue State, describing the continued attacks on communities in his diocese as \u201cgenocide.\u201d<\/p>\n In a recent interview with ACI Africa, Bishop Anagbe said that since 2018, at least 17 parishes in the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi have been forced to shut down due to repeated attacks attributed to armed herders. The most recent closures, he said, occurred between May 27 and June 4.<\/p>\n \u201cSome parishes span up to 20 kilometers, with many outstations and zones,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhen we talk about 17 parishes being shut, it means an entire community has been displaced and taken over. They cannot go back.\u201d<\/p>\n Describing the violence as part of a broader pattern, Bishop Anagbe alleged that the attacks form a \u201csystematic campaign\u201d of territorial takeover and religious persecution targeting Christian communities in the region. Benue State, located in Nigeria\u2019s Middle Belt, has a predominantly Christian population and has witnessed years of deadly clashes between farmers and armed groups identified in many reports as herders.<\/p>\n \u201cNo nation watches her citizens slaughtered like animals and says there is nothing to be done. It\u2019s genocide,\u201d the bishop told ACI Africa.<\/p>\n He further claimed that the attacks, once sporadic, have become \u201ca steady occurrence,\u201d asserting they amount to \u201ca jihadist war\u2014an attempt to occupy and conquer territory.\u201d<\/p>\n Bishop Anagbe also accused government authorities of complicity, alleging that officials \u201caid, support, and abet\u201d perpetrators of the violence. \u201cWho are these people? Are they spirits? They are not. The government knows what to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Bishop Anagbe testified before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, where he detailed what he described as a coordinated effort to \u201creduce and eventually eliminate the Christian identity\u201d in parts of Northern and Central Nigeria. His remarks drew strong criticism from some Muslim leaders, who dismissed his claims as \u201cunsubstantiated.\u201d<\/p>\n On June 1, the Nigeria Catholic Diocesan Priests\u2019 Association (NCDPA) in Makurdi Diocese issued its own statement condemning the ongoing attacks. The group described the violence as a \u201csystematic persecution of Christians\u201d and said it was deliberately intended to destabilise Bishop Anagbe and the diocese.<\/p>\n Kukah, in his comments in Kaduna, explained that the term genocide is often misinterpreted:<\/p>\n \u201cGenocide is not determined by the number of people killed. You can kill 10 million people and it still won\u2019t amount to genocide. The critical determinant is intent \u2014 whether the aim is to eliminate a group of people.\u201d<\/p>\n He urged Nigerians to adopt a more analytical approach to national discourse, warning against emotional or politically motivated exaggerations.<\/p>\n Challenging the Persecution Narrative<\/strong><\/p>\n In one of his most controversial assertions, Kukah questioned the claims that Christians are systematically persecuted in Nigeria.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are a Christian in Nigeria and you say you are persecuted, my question is: how? At least 80% of educated Nigerians are Christians, and up to 85% of the Nigerian economy is controlled by Christians. With such figures, how can anyone say Christians are being persecuted?\u201d<\/p>\n While many have suggested that Kukah fundamentally altered his position after President Bola Tinubu came into power two years ago, he was identified as one of the shrill voices against Christian killings under late former President, Muhammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n He maintained that many tragic cases involving Christian victims are often misclassified as religiously motivated, even when they stem from criminality, banditry, or communal conflict.<\/p>\n On martyrdom, he offered a stern caution:<\/p>\n \u201cBecause someone is killed in a church, does that automatically make them a martyr? Whether you are killed while stealing someone\u2019s yam or attacked by bandits, does that qualify as martyrdom? We must think more deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n Under Fire for Opposing International \u201cCountry of Particular Concern\u201d Label<\/strong><\/p>\n Bishop Kukah has come under intense criticism in recent months after urging the international community not to designate Nigeria as a \u201cCountry of Particular Concern\u201d (CPC) \u2014 a label reserved for nations implicated in severe violations of religious freedom.<\/p>\n Kukah argued that such a designation would inflame religious tensions, empower extremist elements, and complicate cooperation between religious institutions and government.<\/p>\n \u201cSuch a label would heighten tensions, breed suspicion, and allow criminals to exploit the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics \u2014 both within and outside the Christian community \u2014 have accused him of downplaying the suffering of Christian victims.<\/p>\n Emphasis on Unity and Internal Reform<\/strong><\/p>\n Bishop Kukah told members of the Knights of St. Mulumba that internal disunity among Christians contributes to vulnerabilities in the face of insecurity.<\/p>\n \u201cThe main problem is that Christians succumb to bullies. The day we decide to stand together \u2014 believing that an injury to one is an injury to all \u2014 these things will stop.\u201d<\/p>\n He reiterated that sensationalism harms the Church and undermines efforts at peacebuilding and inter-faith cooperation.<\/p>\n Backed by Research<\/strong><\/p>\n Defending his long-held position, Kukah revealed that he had presented an extensive academic study at the Vatican:<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I presented at the Vatican was a 1,270-page study on genocide in Nigeria and elsewhere. My argument is that it is not accurate to claim there is genocide or martyrdom in Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n A Controversial but Influential Voice<\/strong><\/p>\n Bishop Kukah\u2019s latest statements add to a long-standing pattern of challenging religiously charged narratives surrounding Nigeria\u2019s insecurity. His voice carries significant weight due to his leadership role in the National Peace Committee, which has been instrumental in mediating tensions during national elections and crises.<\/p>\n As the country continues to grapple with widespread insecurity, Bishop Kukah\u2019s intervention underscores a broader struggle over how violence is interpreted \u2014 and who gets to define it. His insistence on precision, data, and context suggests a call for both national introspection and responsible advocacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and Convener of the National Peace Committee (NPC), Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, has once again dismissed claims that Christians in Nigeria are facing genocide, insisting that such assertions lack evidence and distort the complex realities of the country\u2019s insecurity. But his position remarkably differs from those of his Catholic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":96366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[7613,3601,2284,167,5509,211],"class_list":["post-96363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-anagbe","tag-christian","tag-genocide","tag-kukah","tag-makurdi","tag-sokoto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/96366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/news-photos-aci-africa-2025-06-06t105333_1749196478-300x200.jpg\")
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