Lagos – The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Rev. Mathew Hassan Kukah has said kidnappers are demanding for N200 million for a Catholic priest and reverend sister abducted over three weeks ago.
Kukah stated this on Sunday at the flag-off of the 70th Anniversary Lecture of the Order of the Knight of Saint Mulumba, at the St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja, Lagos.
“As I speak, for the past three weeks my priest, a young man and a sister are still in captivity even though the Nigerian state wishes to pretend that we are not negotiating with the kidnappers.
“We are negotiating with the kidnappers as I’m talking because I don’t know how else to get back my priest.
“It is a very painful experience. My blood relations have been kidnapped. Last year, I lost a priest to kidnappers. I have lost a seminarian to kidnappers and somehow we like to pretend we have a government.
“Of course, we have the apparatus of government, we have the scaffolding, but this scaffolding is important because people can see access to and appropriate resources of the state.
“As to what the state needs to do, they are still far away from that reality. It is a very painful and sad reality that as at the last conversation with the kidnappers, we have negotiated up to N20 million, which I do not have” he added.
Kukah, therefore urged members of the Catholic Church and Christians in general to play active roles in politics.
This, according to him, will influence the authorities to create a better society.
” We , Christians getting actively involved in politics will transform the despicable tales of the nation’s politics, which are characterized by corruption, killings, impunity, and other vices,” he said.
Kukah noted that Christians’ complacent attitude has allowed corrupt and dishonest individuals to dominate the governance space, which is the cause of the unpleasant situation Nigerians are currently in.
Given the Church’s well-known culture of fear of God and belief in selfless service to society, he challenged Catholics to assume their proper place in politics.
He added that the Church is capable of leading the nation creditably.
