The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has called on the Federal Government to act swiftly in eliminating terrorists and their sponsors before the United States takes possible military action in Nigeria.
Speaking during the November Holy Ghost Service on Friday, Adeboye reacted to recent warnings issued by US President Donald Trump, urging President Bola Tinubu to issue a three-month ultimatum to the newly appointed service chiefs to eradicate terrorists and their financiers.
He advised that any security chief who fails to deliver within that period should resign.
According to him, “This is not the time for apportioning blame. Our President inherited this problem; it started before him.”
Adeboye recalled a similar situation during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, noting that he had privately advised Buhari to take decisive action when the killings became unbearable, but the advice was not implemented.
He said, “Some of you will remember who called the service chiefs together and said, ‘I give you three months, get rid of all these Boko Haram people or resign. It’s not allowed to tell you who gave him that advice. He ran with that advice, but he didn’t follow it through because he gave the order as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, and the security operatives moved fast.
“But three months went by, and the work was not done. So I went to see him. It wasn’t unusual. This time, somehow, the press got to know that I visited him. Of course, they were not there when we talked.”
The cleric further lamented that Buhari, now deceased, did not follow through with his directive. “Unfortunately, like I said, he’s not alive now. I would have asked you to go and ask him, ‘Sir, why didn’t you follow through? Because when three months passed and the work wasn’t done, why didn’t you proceed with your, are we going to call it threat?’”
Adeboye urged the Tinubu administration to be firm in its approach, saying, “When giving orders to the service chiefs this time around, we should make it clear to them that they are not only to eliminate the terrorists but also their sponsors, no matter how influential they may be.”
He also warned that if the United States eventually launches a military operation in Nigeria, no other global power would come to the country’s defence.
“When I say our leaders should move fast, move diplomatically, and move wisely, we must take note of the fact that if America should attack us, China is not coming to defend us. Russia will not come to defend us,” Adeboye cautioned. “All the so-called world leaders will talk, they will condemn what America has done in the strongest terms, that’s all they will do. Britain is not going to come and help us. No other foreign power will come to our aid.”
He added, “This is not the time for joking. This is not the time for drama. This is not the time for semantics. This is not the time to begin to argue, is it suicide or kidnapping or whatever name they call it? And this is not the time to say, ‘Ah, it’s not Christians alone, Muslims are also involved.’ The point is, people are dying. Innocent people are dying.”
Adeboye further urged President Tinubu to engage President Trump diplomatically, appealing for a 100-day window to tackle insecurity in Nigeria.
He stated, “Let the government use diplomatic methods to convince President Trump to give us 100 days of grace. All our service chiefs, fortunately, are new, should perform within three months, or resign.”
His comments come after Trump, through his Truth Social platform, warned that Christianity in Nigeria faced an “existential threat” from radical Islamist groups. The US President vowed that his administration would be “ready, willing and able to protect our great Christian population around the world” and directed top congressional members to investigate the matter.
