The General Superintendent of Holy Spirit Mission, Bishop Charles Ighele, has urged Nigerians not to be afraid of the recent threat by United States President Donald Trump on sending military operations to the country.
The cleric stated that Trump does not intend to invade Nigeria but only intends to come and wipe out terrorists.
The Ikeja-based cleric who’s church is also known as The Happy Family Nation, made the clarification during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Saturday in Lagos.
Ighele explained that the clarification was necessary to dispel the widespread misconception that had dominated public discourse since Trump’s speech, in which Nigeria was described as a “Country of Particular Concern.”
According to him, Trump’s speech should be seen as a wake-up call. Just as he expressed hope that things would not remain the same.
Ighele added that President Bola Tinubu had the intellectual capacity to act and calm the rising tension.
The cleric further identified four
types of terrorism occurring in Nigeria.
Mentioning kidnappers who abduct people for ransom, Ighele noted that this group operated across the entire country.
The second, he said are bandits who terrorise mostly rural dwellers. Kidnapping for ransom and using the proceeds to fund and declare their rulership over the captured areas.
He said, “They eventually impose taxes on the people. This second group of terrorists operate for unfounded purposes.
“Some in this group are terribly clandestinely in execution. Some in this group kill too.
“The third group of bandits are those who want to establish their own brand of Islam all over Nigeria.
“This group kills irrespective of faith. They think that Nigeria brand of Islam is not authentic.
“Boko Haram and Islamic State belong to this group.
“Then, there is the fourth group whose sole aim is to kill and wipe out settlements and take over their land forever.”
The cleric regretted that the number of internally displaced people from Benue, Plateau, and other surrounding states was evidence of the worsening situation.
Lamenting that the lives of the displaced persons had been seriously disrupted, he noted that Nigerians continued to witness one mass burial after another, which he described as very painful.
“It is painful when innocent people are killed for commercial or other reasons.
“I think it is the last group that President Donald Trump is not happy about. His statement did not indicate that he will invade Nigeria.
“He said that he will come in discreetly and swifly wipe out the terrorists as he did during his tenure in the Middle East,” he said.
Ighele urged the President Tinubu-led administration to formally invite President Trump to do the work. While at the same time maintaining a semblance of national pride.
The cleric noted that Nigeria needed to provide quality education and proper civic orientation to its millions of youths in order to instill patriotism in them.
“The nation should not allow millions of hopeless young people to be produced and used to harass innocent citizens,” he stated.
Source:NAN