The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, has called on Nigerians to unite and confront the menace of terrorism, saying the time has come to “fight it to a standstill and placate the aggrieved.”
The monarch made the call while receiving the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Wale Oke, at his palace in Oke Aremo, Ibadan North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to a statement issued by his media aide, Adeola Oloko, on Sunday in Ibadan, Oba Ladoja lamented that Nigeria has been battling terrorism for over a decade — dating back to the final years of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2014.
Ladoja said, “Many people have been killed and property worth an inestimable amount of money destroyed. Multitudes of families, particularly women and children, have been displaced. Kidnappings have taken place.
“Successive administrations have spent trillions to fight insecurity. When you look at this scenario over the past 10 years, people are bound to feel aggrieved and resort to self-help.
“Former President Jonathan has tried. Former President Muhammadu Buhari has tried. President Bola Tinubu is trying. But I want to caution that terrorists don’t know the difference between Muslims and Christians.
“They see everybody as prey, while they are the predator. This is why as the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, a constituent part of CAN, we are appealing to you to please help us to placate our Christian brethren who are understandably aggrieved that these times will pass.”
The monarch stated that in South-Western Nigeria, where he is more familiar with people from different religious backgrounds who enjoy harmonious relationships, he wonders why such a display of love is hard to come by in other parts of the country.
Earlier, the PFN President, Oke, congratulated Ladoja on his emergence as the 44th Olubadan, praying to God to give him wisdom, knowledge and understanding to discharge his obligations as Olubadan to the satisfaction of God and humanity.
Meanwhile, the President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Oke, had advised Tinubu to partner with US President Donald Trump in tackling the scourge of killings and attacks on several communities across Nigeria, especially in the northern part of the country.
Also, President Bola Tinubu on Friday met with the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’adu Abubakar, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja — days after holding a similar meeting with the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Bishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama.
The meeting, which took place in the first-floor office of the President, was said to be part of wide consultations Tinubu is having with religious and traditional leaders in the wake of the United States President, Donald Trump.
Trump had described Nigeria as a country of religious persecution and human rights abuses.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, accompanied the Sultan to the “crucial” meeting.
President Tinubu’s meeting with Archbishop Kaigama earlier in the week was also held at the State House, as part of what sources described as the President’s efforts to engage key faith leaders amid growing international attention on Nigeria’s religious and human rights record.
The Nigerian government had also rejected the characterisation as a ‘country of particular concern’ and pushed back against claims that the violence amounts to targeted genocide, saying the country’s constitution protects all faiths and that security challenges affect communities across religious lines.
