By Adetutu Audu and Debbie Eremen
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has urged the Federal Government to immediately eliminate terrorists and their sponsors in response to possible United States military action in Nigeria.
Adeboye gave the advice on Friday, 7 November, 2025, during the November Holy Ghost Service while reacting to recent threats issued by US President, Donald Trump.
He advised President Bola Tinubu to give the newly appointed service chiefs a three-month ultimatum to wipe out terrorists and their financiers.
He said failure to do this should lead to their resignation.
The cleric said, “This is not the time for apportioning blame. Our President inherited this problem, it started before him.”
Recalling the tenure of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, he said he had once privately advised him to take decisive action when killings in the country became unbearable. However, Buhari did not follow through on the counsel.
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.
“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?’
“I won’t tell you the details, but one thing came out of that meeting, which will lead me to my next advice to our government, in case there’s any of you who can get across to them. 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.”
Adeboye cautioned that if the US eventually invades Nigeria, China, Russia, and other world powers would not come to the country’s defence.
He stated, “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.
“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.
“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.”
He also urged Tinubu to plead with Trump to give him a window of 100 days to tackle the insurgency in Nigeria.
The cleric said that once Tinubu secures the support of Trump to give him 100 days to halt the attacks, he should, in turn, issue a marching order to the service chiefs and other security agencies to resolve the issues within 90 days.
He said, “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.”
Trump had, on October 31, ordered the Pentagon to prepare “possible action” in Nigeria, accusing the government of “failing to stop the killing of Christians” and calling it a disgraced country.
The statement followed the US State Department’s designation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for alleged violations of religious freedom.
The Nigerian government rejected the accusation, saying that the violence in the country affects all faiths and that it remains committed to tackling terrorism and insecurity.
Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar described the US move as a misrepresentation of complex conflicts driven by criminal and extremist elements.
Adeboye urged Tinubu to use diplomacy to de-escalate the crisis and prove that Nigeria is addressing its security challenges.
This is not the time for jokes or arguments. Innocent people are dying every day. Our leaders must put human lives above politics,” he said.
