Abdul Mahmud, the president of the Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL), has railed against Mathew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, berating him as an evangelist of oppressors.

Mr Mahmud, in an article titled, “Definitions, Not Lives: Bishop Kukah’s Convenient Theology”, responded to Mr Kukah’s statement at the 46th Supreme Convention of the Knights of St. Mulumba (KSM) in Kaduna, in which he dismissed campaigns against alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria, adding that intent of terrorists’ killings must first be established to determine whether it is genocide or not.
“Mr Kukah reminds us that genocide is defined by intent, not by pools of blood and burnt out churches. The bishop speaks as if death can be measured only by some theological precision. He speaks as if suffering requires validation from the Vatican. He speaks as if the cries of widows, orphans, and Christian communities terrorised across northern Nigeria are hearsay unless confirmed by his office,” Mr Mahmud said.

Speaking further, Mr Mahmud said, “Bishop Kukah has carved a niche for himself in Nigerian public life. Once, he poked the eyes of oppressors with fearless sermons and daring speeches. He once seemed a gadfly to power. He once understood the language of moral outrage. Today, he is the evangelist of the oppressors.”

He added that Mr Kukah “interprets atrocities for two conveniences: those in charge of the nation-state and the convenience of his new theology. He reduces horrors to mere numbers, questioning whether they can even be called horrors without an explicit intent behind them. He argues, with calculated sophistry, that genocide exists only when intent can be proven.”

Mr Mahmud also referenced Mr Kukah’s antecedents as a fiery preacher who spoke truth to successive governments. However, he said the cleric now takes sides with oppressive and repressive governments.

“Once, Kukah feared the powerful. He was our much-sought-after and regular speaker at the Church and Human Rights Workshops of the Civil Liberties Organisation in the early 1990s at Ijebu-Ode and elsewhere,” Mr Mahmud said.

He added, “Now, he comforts power and the abusers of the right to life. Once, he demanded accountability. Now, he reframes accountability as optional. Once, he was the gadfly.”

Faulting Mr Kukah’s statement, Mr Mahmud cited several cases of killings and abductions by terrorists in churches, including those in the cleric’s home state, Kaduna.

“The international legal definition, as contained in the 1948 Genocide Convention, does indeed mention intent, but intent is not the sole criterion. Genocide encompasses acts committed with the knowledge that they will destroy, in whole or in part, a group,” Mr Mahmud said.

He added, “Systematic killings, forced displacement, destruction of homes, religious sites, and cultural institutions all count. One does not need a signed decree from the oppressor to establish genocide. The logic of intent alone ignores the lived reality of victims. Villages emptied of life, churches torched, children orphaned, communities terrorised – these are visible consequences. To demand proof of a private mental decision by the perpetrator before naming genocide is to demand the impossible. It is to turn suffering into speculation.”

On Sunday, Peoples Gazette reported Mr Kukah saying, “Genocide is not based on the number of people killed. You can kill 10 million people and it still won’t amount to genocide. The critical determinant is intent—whether the aim is to eliminate a group of people. So, you don’t determine genocide by numbers; you determine it by intention. We need to be more clinical in the issues we discuss.“

Dismissing alleged Christian genocide in Nigeria, Mr Kukah said, “People say there is genocide in Nigeria. What I presented at the Vatican was a 1,270-page study on genocide in Nigeria and elsewhere. My argument is that it is not accurate to claim there is genocide or martyrdom in Nigeria.”

Though bandits and rampaging Fulani militias have not clearly stated their intentions, Boko Haram in 2012 said it aimed at establishing an Islamic State in northern Nigeria, warning Christians in the region to leave.