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The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, has called on President Bola Tinubu to take immediate action to address the country’s suffering, citing widespread insecurity, hunger, and brutality.

In his Easter message, Bishop Kukah likened Nigeria’s situation to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, urging the President to “bring us down from this cross of evil.”

He said, “We all admit that you neither erected this cross nor did you effect our collective crucifixion. Notwithstanding, Nigerians have been dangling and bleeding on this cross of pain and mindless suffering for too long. A culture of cynicism and self-doubt over our capacity to secure peace for ourselves pervades our land.”

“Indeed, a majority of our citizens feel that there is no hope in sight. However, for us as Christians, Hope is the anchor on which we hang all our hopes (Heb. 6:19). Now is the time to re-enkindle and renew that hope,” he stated.

Kukah expressed concerns about the nation’s security, stating that “marauders, murderers, savages, and ravenous predators” threaten to overrun the country.

In his message, which was made available to SaharaReporters on Sunday morning, the outspoken cleric also highlighted the issue of hunger, noting that food security should be a fundamental human right.

“We believe that all is not lost,” adding that “our hope has an ally in the holy father, Pope Francis, who last year declared this year, 2025, the Year of Hope with the theme, Pilgrims of Hope. The Pope appreciates that pilgrims are often sailing against the harsh currents of a broken world characterized by violence, pain, suffering, tribulation and death.”

He said, “…Often we come across people who are discouraged, pessimistic and cynical about the future as if nothing could bring them happiness. The road to our collective discouragement in Nigeria has been laid by marauders, murderers, savages and ravenous predators who threaten to overrun our nation. Mr. President, immediately rid our dear country of these forces of darkness and bring us down from this cross of cynicism.

“Mr. President, hunger, sickness and desolation stalk the land. We still believe removing the subsidies was the right decision. We note that the country now has a huge volume of resources in its domestic reserves. For over ten years now, farming has become one of the most hazardous pre-occupations in our country. I restate the obvious by warning that mere palliative distribution diminishes the dignity of citizens. We have remained between the rock of self-doubt and the hard place of hopelessness. Make food security a fundamental human right to all citizens. Mr. President, please bring us down from this painful cross of hunger.

“Some years back, some of our public officers confessed that they brought our current killers into our country as a strategy for upstaging the government of the day and to gain power. Strange as it may sound, today we have watched as the cancer of insecurity and violence have metastasized. Now, this cancer threatens the very foundation of our common humanity.”

“The bandits have not only become embedded in every sphere of our lives, they threaten to destroy all that holds our communities together. This self-destructive cancer has invaded our communities and kidnapping is a now a dog whistle for undermining the very structure and foundation of our country. We now hang on the cross at the mercy of these forces of darkness. Mr. President, please, bring us down from this cross of insecurity,” he pointed out.

Bishop Kukah emphasised the need for collective action to drive out darkness and build a society that reflects the creator’s vision.

“We are the light of the world, a city set on a hill,” he said.

He continued, “We are confident that a majority of the citizens of our country want to live in peace with one another. However, allowing this insecurity to persists will undermine all forms of goodwill that this or any government in Nigeria espouses.

“We have all the ingredients to create a toxic mix of violence that can spin out of control. Right now, frustration has penetrated every spectrum of our society especially as the government and its security agencies seem to have largely become spectators in the dance of death that has overtaken our country.

“We are in a dilemma now and the question is simple: is the persistence of the insecurity a statement of the lack of capacity of our men and women in uniform, or is it evidence that those at the top are reaping the fruits of funding their own war machine? In other words, are Nigerians lambs being sacrificed to an unknown god? Mr. President, step up, get to the finishing line and bring us down from this cross of shame.”

The bishop concluded by wishing President Tinubu a happy Easter and calling on Nigerians to renew their commitment to building a better society.

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A seven-year-old child has died and two others have been left hospitalised in a serious condition after allegedly eating a poisoned Easter egg. 
 

A 35-year-old woman who sent the Easter egg to her ex-boyfriend’s family has been arrested in the Médio Mearim region of northern Brazil. 
 

Barbosa

Jordélia Pereira Barbosa was taken away by police on Thursday, April 17, who accused her of sending the spiked chocolate to a family in Santa Ines, also in northern Brazil. 
 

Luís Fernando Rocha Silva died in the early hours of Thursday morning and his mum Mirian Lira, 32, and sister Evelyn Fernanda, 13, are still in hospital. 
 

The unsuspecting family were delivered the Easter egg by a motorcycle courier on Wednesday night, April 16. A message from a secret sender was left with the egg, which said: “With love, to Mirian Lira. Happy Easter.” 
 

Mirian reportedly also received a mystery call later that night from an anonymous person who did not respond when the mum-of-two asked who was on the other end. The mysterious caller asked the mum if she had been sent the Easter egg. 

The mothers sister, Naiza Santos, said: “The woman on the phone said ‘you’ll find out who it is’. And she hung up and didn’t say anything.” 

“When the egg arrived, there was no identification of who had sent it, just the note and they didn’t say who it was from,” Santos said. 

“She [Miriam] only received the call, the voice was of a woman, asking if she had received [the Easter egg]. She said, ‘Yes I did, who is it?’.  
 

Santos said that the woman told Lira, “You’ll find out who it is,” and hung up the phone without saying anything else.
 

Her seven-year-old son was the first to start feeling unwell, and he was rushed to a local hospital, according to Globo. Luís died several hours after he was admitted and his mum only started showing worrying symptoms while at the hospital for her son. 
 

Her hands reportedly started to turn purple and she was struggling to breathe before being admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit. 
 

13-year-old Evelyn quickly followed and was admitted into the emergency unit with the same symptoms as her mum. The mother and daughter are reportedly fighting for their lives at the Municipal Hospital of Imperatriz. 
 

Police have launched an investigation into the shocking case and revealed samples of the potentially killer egg were taken away for analysis at the Imperatriz Criminalistics Institute. 
 

Jordelia Barbosa, 36, was on a bus attempting to flee when she was taken into custody in Santes Inés on Thursday afternoon. 
 

The arrest came less than 24 hours after she allegedly had a tray with the holiday treats delivered to the family’s home, 239 miles away in the town Imperatriz. 
 

The Maranhão Civil Police said Barbosa had previously dated Mirian’s former husband and father of her two children, Rafael Silva. 
 

This has not been the first time a potentially poisoned festive treat has allegedly killed unsuspecting victims. A Christmas cake laced with arsenic is believed to have killed three family members in Brazil. 
 

Maida Bernice Flores da Silva, 58, Neuza Denize Silva dos Anjos, 65 and Tatiana Silvia dos Santos, 43 all died in December after biting into the homemade fruitcake. Their relative Deise Moura dos Anjos, 42, was arrested in January on suspicion of triple murder and triple attempted murder – and was accused of poisoning the flour used to make the sweet treat. 
 

Deise died in February and it is believed she took her own life in her prison cell, while in custody. Local reports stated that, according to the police, Diese left a note in her cell claiming she was innocent and that she felt depressed. 
 

Another family in Australia faced a lunchtime horror when three people died after eating a beef Wellington that was also allegedly poisoned. Erin Patterson has been accused of triple murder after cooking for her ex-husband’s family but she has denied any wrongdoing. 
 

Police believed the unsuspecting Wellington was laced with poisonous mushrooms. The victims died days after eating the meal.