TRUMP’S THREAT: Prominent clergymen urge Tinubu to dislodge insurgents speedily

*Order Service Chiefs to eliminate terrorists, sponsors -Adeboye

*This should serve as a wake-up call for leaders -Kukah

BY ORIAKU IJELE

The announcement by Donald Trump, designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) over religious freedom violations and threatening military action to protect Christians, has provoked a deeply divided response among Nigeria’s prominent pastors and priests.

The Daily Monitor, notes that this stark divergence of opinion reflects the complex reality of the country’s security crisis, the political polarization around the violence, and deep-seated feelings about national sovereignty versus the desperation for external rescue.

For some prominent Christian leaders, particularly those directly affected by the relentless violence in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and North, Trump’s threat was met with a sense of vindication and relief. They see the U.S. President’s statement as a long-awaited acknowledgment of the severe, targeted persecution of Christians they have been vocal about for years.

Bishop Wilfrid Anagbe, of the Makurdi diocese in Benue State, has been a significant voice in this camp. Having personally witnessed the loss of parishes and the displacement of Christian communities, he welcomed Trump’s declaration as an “answer to prayer” and a potential source of “sanity” in the face of what he describes as “lawless killings” and government impunity. His view is that the government has consistently downplayed the targeting of Christians, making external intervention or pressure was necessary.

General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Adeboye, in this regard urged the Tinubu-led government to move swiftly to forestall whatever the American President, Donald Trump, wants to do, reminding the Nigerian leader that the World Powers have a history of not interfering whenever US or similar nations are involved in any military action.

Speaking during the November Holy Ghost Service at the Redemption Camp, Adeboye said Tinubu should beg the United States President Donald Trump for 100 additional days while the country act speedily in stopping the killings.

“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 they should eliminate their sponsors, no matter how influential they may be.

“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.”

For the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Mathew Kukah, the threats from Donald Trump should serve as a wakeup call to Nigerian leaders.

For Atta Barkindo, a priest and executive director of the Kukah Centre, he acknowledged the government’s failure to protect citizens but cautioned against external military action, suggesting that engaging the Americans on how to defeat terrorism is the ultimate goal, rather than an uninvited intervention.

Supporters of Trump’s narrative often cite data from Christian watchdog groups that focus on the high number of Christian fatalities and attacks on churches and clergy, insisting that the violence, even when tied to farmer-herder clashes, disproportionately affects Christian communities and demonstrates an element of religious persecution. For these leaders, the threat of military action—however drastic—is a measure of last resort to protect an “existential threat” to their faith community.

The debate among pastors and priests is thus not about the reality of the violence, which is universally acknowledged as horrific. Instead, it is a debate on accountability and autonomy.