Kukah’s Remarks On Christian Genocide Misrepresented, Says Centre

The Kukah Centre (TKC) has dismissed reports suggesting that its founder, Bishop Matthew Kukah, downplayed the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

The Centre described the claims as a “clear mischaracterisation” of his long-standing position on religious freedom.

The clarification followed days of criticism that had trailed Bishop Kukah over his remarks concerning Christian genocide in northern Nigeria since U.S. President Donald Trump warned that if what he termed genocide did not stop, he was going to intervene militarily.

While various high-level engagements between the Nigerian government and the US side have continued in order to find a way out of the situation, Bishop Kukah’s comments suggested there was no genocide.

But a statement issued in Abuja on Monday signed by the Executive Director of The Kukah Centre, Fr Atta Barkindo, said it had followed “with humility and keen attention” the comments attributed to Bishop Kukah and was compelled to correct “selective attributions” that do not reflect either the text of his remarks or his five-decade body of work on human rights and justice.

TKC said the misrepresentations stemmed from Bishop Kukah’s address at the launch of the 2025 World Report on Religious Freedom at the Vatican on 21 October 2025 and from his remarks at the 46th Supreme Convention of the Knights of St. Mulumba in Kaduna on 28 November 2025.

“For the avoidance of doubt, at no point has His Lordship diminished the seriousness of the crisis of faith-based persecution in parts of Nigeria, nor has he failed to identify with the very real sufferings caused by it,” the Centre said.

Citing Bishop Kukah’s Vatican remarks, TKC stressed that the cleric had openly condemned the government’s failure to curb the killings afflicting vulnerable communities across the country.

The Centre said in paragraph five of his 13-paragraph presentation at the Vatican, Bishop Kukah had said, “What is important is not to create the impression that we have no problems. We do have serious problems, but these have escalated because the federal and state governments have, over the years, allowed these problems to fester.

“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.”

Continuing, the Centre quoted him as saying, “By whatever names we choose, the fact is that Nigerians are dying unacceptable deaths across the country. In many cases, they are targeted because of their beliefs but also because of their ethnicity.”

TKC said these statements made it “abundantly clear” that Bishop Kukah did not, at any time, attempt to downplay Christian persecution.

In his remarks at the Knights of St Mulumba Convention, the Centre stated that Bishop Kukah merely traced the historic roots of Christian persecution – beginning with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ -and encouraged Christian communities to remain steadfast.

“The text and structure of the presentation clearly indicate that His Lordship sought to validate the persecution of Christians rather than to diminish or deny it,” the Centre said.

It added that Bishop Kukah’s consistent advocacy for “faith, solidarity, justice, and healing” has been the hallmark of his lifelong commitment to peacebuilding.

To prevent further distortion of his views, TKC said it had uploaded the full texts of Bishop Kukah’s speeches on its website.

“In order to encourage accurate and coherent reporting of the remarks of His Lordship and to discourage the misattributions that appear to now persist, TKC is making these available on our website,” the statement said.

Reaffirming its stance, the Centre called for “zero tolerance for religious persecution; solidarity with the victims and affected communities; and accountability for the perpetrators.”