Nigeria: Bishop calls for end to hate speech against Fulani herdsmen

Mgr Matthew Hassan Kukah

Mgr Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto, has called for an end to "the blanket and continued hate speeches" against Fulani herdsmen on social media, which he says constitute a threat to the unity and peace of Nigeria. The bishop made the appeal in a seminar on 'Fake News and hate speech', organized by the Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for African Studies, a unit of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN); Abuja.

Bishop Kukah recalled that hate speeches are known to have preceded any genocide experienced in any part of the world. Mgr Kukah compared the incitement to hatred towards the Fulani to what happened to the Igbo before the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970.

Warning that the country is on a very dangerous precipice, Mgr Kukah called on the leaders of the country to help bring the situation under control and called on all Nigerians to be their brothers keepers and avoid ethno-religious profiling in dealing with each other.

In Nigeria, clashes between farmers and Fulani herdsmen have caused the death of hundreds of people and the displacement of many others. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, warning him of the risk of a "Rwandan-style genocide" in Nigeria if the government does not take immediate measures to stop the violence.