By Paschal Norbert

ABUJA, DECEMBER 2, 2025 (CISA) – The Kukah Centre has issued a strongly worded clarification dismissing what it describes as “widespread mischaracterization” of remarks made by its founder, Rt. Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, on the worsening crisis of religious freedom and the unrelenting wave of Christian persecution in Northern Nigeria.

The statement, released on December 1, 2025, comes amid weeks of heightened national and international attention following a surge of kidnappings, attacks on rural communities, and killings of Christians across several northern states. The violence has reignited global concerns about Nigeria’s deepening insecurity, concerns echoed by Church leaders within Nigeria and the broader international community.

According to Kukah Centre, recent media reports selectively quoted Bishop Kukah’s comments from two major events, his address at the Vatican during the launch of the 2025 World Report on Religious Freedom on October 21, and his keynote speech at the 46th Supreme Convention of the Knights of St. Mulumba in Kaduna on November 28.

“These reports clearly mischaracterized the views and remarks of His Lordship through selective attributions,” Kukah Centre said in the statement, clarifying “They neither reflect the text of his remarks nor the context and body of his work over a period of half a century.”

Contrary to claims that Bishop Kukah had played down the severity of Christian persecution, Kukah Centre insists the Bishop has consistently spoken with clarity and urgency about the crisis, particularly the state’s inability to protect vulnerable communities.

The Centre cites paragraph five of Bishop Kukah’s Vatican address as clear proof that he has never softened the reality of persecution.

In those remarks, Bishop Kukah warned: “We have serious problems… The inability of the federal government and its security agencies to end these killings has created the condition for the genocide that has taken over many communities today.”

He stressed that the killings and abductions are not only unjustified but increasingly targeted, Christians often being attacked “because of their beliefs and also because of their ethnicity.”

Kukah Centre insists the Bishop’s long-documented stance has been unwavering: Nigeria faces an existential moral and security crisis, and religious minorities, especially Christians, continue to bear the brunt.