Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, says Nigeria has entered a temporary period of reduced conflict and violence.
This was as he warned against assuming the country’s insecurity woes are over, despite recent improvements in the fight against insurgency and banditry.
Bishop Kukah said this on Wednesday, while responding to questions in an interview on Arise Television.
The clergyman was responding to President Bola Tinubu’s Independence Day speech that stated that the threat of insecurity in Nigeria was now over, warning that such a conclusion would be premature.
“Nobody can say the threat is over. We have entered a lull, and major progress has been made. There is a substantial sense of lull but not that insecurity is over.
“Only yesterday, a young Fulani boy who is still being held said he had to climb a tree to call me. Let’s appreciate the fact that we are in a fairly better place, but there is still a lot to be done,” he said.
The Bishop stressed that insecurity in Nigeria is far more complex than the popular focus on guns and violence, describing it as the product of deeper structural decay.
Insecurity: We’ve entered a pause, threat isn’t over – Kukah