Sokoto mayhem: I’m safe, my house not burnt, Bishop Kukah opens up

The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Kukah, on Saturday said he is safe after protests rocked parts of Sokoto city over the detention of two persons linked to the gruesome killing of Deborah Samuel.

Contrary to some reports online, the Bishop also told Channels Television that his house was not set ablaze.

The State Government had imposed a 24-hour curfew to restore calm.

In a statement sent to Channels Television, Kukah called for calm and commended Governor Aminu Tambuwal for acting promptly by declaring the curfew.

During the protest, groups of youths led by some adults in the background, attacked the Holy Family Catholic Cathedral, destroying Church glass windows, those of the Bishop Lawton Secretariat and vandalized a community bus parked within the premises, Kukah said.

“They were promptly dispersed by a team of Mobile Policemen before they could do further damage,” the statement added.

“The hoodlums also attacked the Bakhita Centre located along Aliyu Jodi road and burnt down a bus within the premises.”

Kukah commended the security forces for promptly rising to the occasion to prevent further damage at our facilities, adding that no life was lost.

The Bishop appealed to Christians to remain law abiding and pray for the return of normalcy.

He noted that all Masses in the Sokoto metropolis have been suspended until the curfew is lifted.

Meanwhile, calm appears to be returning to Sokoto city after the earlier violence, according to a Channels Television correspondent in the city.

Governor Tambuwal said he declared a 24-hour curfew within the metropolis to prevent further spread of civil unrest trailing the death of Deborah Samuel.

Deborah, a student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, was lynched and burnt by a mob on Thursday over allegations of blasphemy.

President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the killing.

He has also demanded an impartial, extensive probe into all that happened before and during the incident.