By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
The General Overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, has called on the Federal Government to urgently dismantle terrorist networks and the financiers backing them ahead of a possible United States military operation in Nigeria.
Adeboye issued the appeal on Friday during the November Holy Ghost Service, reacting to threats recently issued by US President Donald Trump.
He urged President Bola Tinubu to hand the newly appointed service chiefs a strict three-month deadline to eliminate terrorists and the people funding them, noting that anyone unable to meet the target should step down.
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According to Adeboye, “This is not the time for apportioning blame. Our President inherited this problem, it started before him.”
Reflecting on the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari, Adeboye said he had once advised him privately to take decisive action when nationwide killings became unbearable, but the instruction was not fully implemented.
He recalled telling Buhari, “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 also warned that Nigeria would be on its own if the United States decides to launch an attack, stressing that global powers would not intervene on the country’s behalf.
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 encouraged Tinubu to open diplomatic channels and appeal to Trump for a 100-day grace period to address the insurgency. Adeboye added that if such an agreement is reached, the President must then issue a 90-day marching order to the security chiefs.
“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,” he said.
His remarks follow Trump’s statements on his Truth Social page last Friday, where he described Christianity in Nigeria as facing an “existential threat” from radical Islamist groups.
Trump said the United States “cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening,” adding that his administration would be “ready, willing and able to protect our great Christian population around the world.”
He also asked members of Congress, including Riley Moore and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, to investigate the situation and brief him accordingly.