-RCCG leader urges swift, diplomatic action to end killings, warns against relying on foreign intervention and criticises presidential assurances on security
Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), has urged President Bola Tinubu to go beyond battlefield victories in the fight against insecurity and “eliminate the sponsors” of terrorists, regardless of how influential they are.
Speaking at the church’s November Holy Ghost Service at Redemption City Campground, Adeboye told worshippers the President must give clear instructions to service chiefs to target both militants and those funding or enabling them. “When giving orders to the service chiefs this time around, he should make it clear to them they are not only to eliminate the terrorists but also eliminate the sponsors, no matter how influential they may be,” he said.
Adeboye also proposed a diplomatic gambit: he suggested the federal government seek a temporary restraint from the United States — specifically asking for “100 days” — to allow Nigeria’s security chiefs three months to resolve the crisis or resign. “Move fast, move diplomatically, move wisely. Find a way to convince the President of America to please delay his actions for about 100 days and then come home and tell our security chiefs to get rid of these terrorists within 90 days or resign,” he said.
The cleric recalled a similar directive by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who once ordered service chiefs to eliminate Boko Haram or step down — a command Adeboye said was not followed through. “He called the service chiefs together and said, ‘Get rid of these Boko Haram people or resign.’ He ran with that advice, but he did not follow up,” Adeboye said.
Warning against dependence on foreign powers in the event of international fallout, Adeboye said Nigeria should act carefully: “If America should attack us, China is not coming to defend us. Likewise Russia and Britain. All the so-called world leaders… they will talk and condemn what America has done, but they won’t help us.”
The pastor also criticised parts of President Tinubu’s recent address in which the President suggested security had improved and displaced persons were returning home. Adeboye, who referred to Tinubu as “my in-law,” said the remarks did not reflect the current situation on the ground. “There are several people around Tinubu who are not telling him the truth,” he said, recalling reports of continued killings.
Adeboye urged unity across religious lines and lamented how politics has inflamed religious divisions that did not exist in earlier decades. He said he has privately advised national leaders on security matters for years but acknowledged that he can only offer counsel, not command the Commander-in-Chief.
Concluding on a hopeful note, Adeboye expressed faith that peace will return to Nigeria, saying God had declared the year would ultimately be “remarkable” despite current turbulence.
