‘Tell service chiefs to eliminate terrorists or resign’ — Adeboye urges Tinubu
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has reacted to the US President Donald Trump’s threat against the Nigerian government over alleged genocide against Christians.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Trump accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of permitting the mass slaughter of Christians and threatened possible military action against Nigeria.
He also designated Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) and suspended arms sales and technical support to the country.
The threat has drawn widespread attention, with stakeholders and concerned Nigerians urging Mr Tinubu to respond swiftly.
During Friday’s November Holy Ghost Service at the Redemption Camp, Mr Adeboye advised Mr Tinubu and his government to handle the matter diplomatically.
He said: “In my own quiet way, I had related to all the presidents around when this trouble started. You can only advise a commander-in-chief; you can’t command him. Because if you command the commander-in-chief, then you become the commander of the commander-in-chief. That doesn’t make sense. But I have tried. And God is my witness. Now, I am talking to you as if you were my children. If asked to make suggestions, I would say quietly to our government, move fast. Move diplomatically.
“Move wisely. Please find a way to convince the President of America to delay his actions for about a hundred days and then come home. Tell our security chiefs, get rid of these terrorists. Within 90 days, or resign.
“Now, I am sure that will sound familiar to those of you who have been following the situation in Nigeria. There was a president. Unfortunately, he is dead now. Some of you will remember. Who called the service chief together and said, I give you three months. Get rid of all these Boko Haram people or resign.”
Not only terrorists but also sponsors
Furthermore, the 83-year-old clergyman urged Mr Tinubu’s administration not to wait until the United States launches an attack on Nigeria.
He added that the President’s directive should extend beyond eliminating terrorists to include those who sponsor and support their activities.
“That when giving orders to the service chief this time round, we should make it clear to them that they are not only to eliminate the terrorists, but they should eliminate their sponsors, no matter how influential they may be. When I say our leaders should move fast, move diplomatically, they have to move wisely. They must take note of the fact that if America were to attack us, China would not come to defend us. Russia will not come to protect us.
“All the so-called world leaders will talk; they will condemn what America has done in the strongest of times. But that’s all they will do. That’s all. Britain is not going to come and help us. No other foreign powers will come to our aid. This is not the time for joking. This is not the time for grammar. This is not the time for, I don’t know, a simple word for semantics. This is not the time when you begin to argue,” said the clergyman.
He stated that the Nigerian government should not claim that Muslims are also being killed.
More criticism
Mr Adeboye also criticised Mr Tinubu’s speech on national insecurity, which was delivered in October.
He noted, “When I heard the speech, particularly that section about security, you can go and listen to it again. I heard him say, All is well now, that displaced people have returned to their villages. I almost said that the one who wrote that speech for my president does not like him. And if you want to say, what do you mean?
“Somebody wrote it, but it’s the president who read it. Didn’t he read it before he read it? If you put it that way, I would conclude that several people around my beloved in-law are not telling him the truth.
“But that’s alright, because I think the following day in the newspapers we read about a traditional ruler being killed, whether in Kwara State or Kogi State, while the wife was hiding somewhere in the house. It is not the time for apportioning blame. Our president inherited this problem. It started before him. And in any case, I’m an applied mathematician. I’m more interested in just getting the problem solved. That’s all.”
He insisted that the newly appointed security chiefs act swiftly; they should be dismissed if they fail.
Buhari
Mr Adeboye also recalled the tenure of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, highlighting the period when he instructed security chiefs to eliminate Boko Haram.
He revealed that he approached the late President privately, urging him to take decisive action after the security chiefs failed to implement the order within three months, as the relentless killings had become intolerable.
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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 didn’t follow it through, because he gave the order as the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, 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, the press somehow learned that I visited him. Of course, they were not there when we talked. 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 a threat?’ I won’t tell you the details, but one thing came out of that meeting.”