Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rt. Rev. Mathew Hassan Kukah, has accused the Federal Government of being sympathetic to Islamist insurgents.
He alleged that the government, by allocating key positions to hardline Muslims, gave tacit approval to insurgent to reign.
This is as the outspoken cleric condemned the beheading of 10 persons believed to be Christians by members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
In a statement through the Diocese’s Communications Office, Kukah accused the Federal Government of using different methods to achieve the same goal of Islamic dominance in Nigeria.
“The only difference between the government and Boko Haram is that Boko Haram is holding a bomb.
“They are using the levers of power to secure the supremacy of Islam, which then gives more weight to the idea that it can be achieved by violence.
“With the situation in Nigeria, it is hard to see the moral basis they have to defeat Boko Haram. They have created the conditions to make it possible for Boko Haram to behave the way they are behaving.” he added.
Bishop Kukah said the only thing preventing Nigeria from being engulfed in civil war was the peaceful tenets of Christianity.
“Christians have every reason to feel insecure and also there is a general feeling of their marginalisation from the political process. If the principles of our religion were different, there would be a civil war by now.
“It is the glory of our religion that this hasn’t happened. It is difficult to preach peace in this context. Any resolution depends on how Christians decide to react. They won’t use violence, but what will they do?” he queried. .
“If the people in power don’t do enough to integrate Christians then they give oxygen to Islamism. If they have countries where everybody is Muslim in power then you give vent to the idea that Islam should be supreme,” he said.
He also criticised western nations for being preoccupied with mining resources in Africa, and not committed to defending the people.
“Western nations are not doing enough. They have shown that the resources of Africa are more important than the ordinary people.
“Clearly, the Western nations could have reduced the influence of Boko Haram by 80 or 90 percent but they have deliberately not done enough,” he said.
Meanwhile, the military has overpowered Boko Haram insurgents who attacked Monguno sector 3 base in Borno State.
Sources said troops battled for several hours to repel the attack which happened late Tuesday.
Suspected members of the ISWAP faction of Boko Haram had attempted to invade the community which serves as a mega camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Some of the 1,200 Chadian troops who pulled out of Nigeria during the weekend made use of the base.
The insurgents were said to have stormed the base around 7pm after which a gun battle ensued.
The Air Force was said to have joined the Army in the battle forcing the insurgent to beat a retreat.
Since the withdrawal of the Chadian troops from the Multinational Joint Task Force operation, there have been rumours of planned attacks by insurgents on key locations of Borno.