The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has asked the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Hassan Kukah, to apologise for what it described as repeated claims that Christians are the main targets of terrorism and banditry in Nigeria.
This followed the abduction of 40 Muslims from a mosque in Gidan Turbe village, Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, during prayers on Monday, September 15, 2025. On the same day, Rev. Father Wilfred Ezemba, a Catholic priest of St. Paul’s Church, was kidnapped in Kogi State.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, the group said the incidents underscored that insecurity in Nigeria cuts across religious and ethnic lines.
> “These two sad events underline the fact that terrorists and bandits target no particular religion or ethnic group. Their main interest is to seize human beings for pecuniary gain,” Akintola said.
MURIC also cited previous large-scale attacks in which Muslims were victims, including the killing of 50 worshippers in Malumfashi, Katsina State, in August 2025, the massacre of 60 Muslims in Sabon Birni, Sokoto State, in May 2020, and the killing of over 60 people in a Sokoto market in October 2021.
The organisation maintained that crime and insecurity in the country have no religious or ethnic colouration, urging religious leaders to avoid narratives that could deepen division.
MURIC therefore called on Bishop Kukah to “tender an unreserved apology to Nigerians for giving the impression that only Christians are being killed or abducted b
y armed groups.”
