Deborah Samuel: Bishop Kukah Suspends Catholic Masses In Sokoto

Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, has announced that all masses in the State’s metropolis have been suspended till further notice.

Bishop Kukah made this known in a statement on Saturday, stressing that masses have been suspended until the curfew declared by Governor Aminu Tambuwal is lifted.

DAILY POST recalls that the Sokoto government declared a curfew after protests spiraled out of control following the arrest of the suspected killers of a 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto.

The Bishop, in a statement signed by Reverend Father Christopher A. Omotasho, Director of the Directorate of Social Communication of the Diocese, announced that services have been suspended.

He appealed to Christians to pray for peace to return and to be law abiding.

Part of the statement read: “During the protest, groups of youths led by some adults in the background attacked the Holy Family Catholic Cathedral at Bello Way, destroying church glass windows, those of the Bishop Lawton Secretariat and vandalized a community bus parked within the premises.

“St. Kevins Catholic Church Gidan Dere, Eastern By-pass, was also attacked and partly burnt; windows of the new hospital complex under construction, in the same premises were shattered.

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

Bishop Kukah, however, commended Governor Aminu Tambuwal and the security agencies for promptly intervening to prevent further damages.