Bishop Francis Wale Oke, President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), is also the President of the Sword of the Spirit Ministries.
In this interview with select journalists, during a media luncheon, which he hosted in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, spoke extensively on the insecurity in the country.
He stated that the ultimate goal of Boko Haram insurgents and its splinter groups is to wipe out Christianity in the North and establish an Islamic Caliphate.
According to him, the attacks on Christians in Nigeria, particularly in the North, amount to genocide. He also cited several incidents as evidence of the systematic targeting of Christians.
Bishop Oke enjoined Islamic leaders, starting from the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, down the line, to speak out against extremism and prevail on those hiding under the Islamic religion to perpetrate evil. He also revealed prophecies for Nigeria in 2026, saying there is hope, and that things will get better in all ramifications.
What is your assessment of the Year 2025?
The Year 2025 was challenging for Nigerians. The cries of Nigerians were very loud. The economic hardship, the corruption issue in Nigeria, and then insecurity came to the fore, and became a major issue.
Until now, people have said the number one challenge of Nigeria is corruption. And to a larger extent, I believe corruption is major. We’ve got to deal with corruption before corruption brings our nation down.
But you all will agree with me that insecurity has suddenly surpassed the matter of corruption as the number one challenge in Nigeria, because where there is insecurity, we cannot travel freely, and we cannot do business freely.
When the road is not free, the air is not free, the home is not free, the gathering is not free, everything and anybody will be affected. So, insecurity has become an issue.
I want to commend the Federal Government as the government of President Bola Tinubu is stepping up the fight against insecurity. For a long time, we have been asking for a tweak, a change, an overhaul in the security architecture of Nigeria. And we saw a bit of it now; the appointment of a new Minister of Defence and some shuffling going on, indicating the determination of President Bola Tinubu to deal with the matter of corruption, and of insecurity head on.
And we want our president to push it to its logical conclusion, to spare no one, to allow no sacred cow. If we don’t bring insecurity down, insecurity will bring this nation down.
The Commander-in-Chief should be Commander-in-Chief indeed, to deal with it. We are aware that all our security apparatuses are being infested with moles and fifth columnists, planted by people who have interest in creating chaos and in weakening our security apparatus. Our soldiers are losing their lives needlessly.
A General was brutally killed, which should not be so at all. And it’s because the moles in the system have not been flushed out.
When the previous administration came out with this odious and nefarious policy of integrating the so-called repentant bandits into the military system, we cried out at that time that this is playing with fire.
It’s like you put a cobra on your head and you’re putting your cap on it, when you are bringing the so-called repentant terrorists.
First and foremost, there is nothing like repentant terrorists. Governance is not a church service. No. In church, when people sin and they confess their sins and they repent, we pray for them and ask God to forgive them.
In governance, when people are caught breaking the law, they face the music and they face the full wrath of the law. People are kidnapping, raping, killing, abducting our children, and they are messing them up. They will kidnap hundreds of our children and force them to march several kilometres, young people. And you come in to tell me that these ones are repentant. No, they’re not repentant.
They just want to enter into the system so they can weaken the system from within. So, we want to urge President Bola Tinubu to put his feet down and to flush the moles, the fifth columnists and to make sure that we are not wasting the precious lives of our gallant officers and our intelligence officers that are doing a great work.
Like that, General Musa Uba was murdered needlessly. From the little I read about military arrangements, before a General would die in battle, thousands of troops must have slept, because there are layers and layers of protective columns around the General.
So, for a General to die that cheap is an insider’s work. So, Mr. President, we commend you for what you are doing. Now, there are moles in the system. Please flush them out. Give them a red card.
Don’t treat terrorists, bandits, Fulani herdsmen, ISWAP, Boko Haram, Lakuwara, or whatever name they are called that are killing, maiming, raping, kidnapping, as repentant. If they want to repent, leave that between them and God; send them to hell. On their way to hell, if they repent, leave that to God.
The work of governance is to bring the wheel of justice to grind heavily on people that are making life difficult for Nigerians. These are our pleas for Mr. President.
What is your take on the military cooperation between Nigeria and the United States, which led to the strike on terrorists’ enclaves in Sokoto State recently?
We commend our President in moving very fast. I would commend our President in agreeing to cooperate with the American government to coordinate a joint effort between the American military and Nigerian military to flush out these bandits.
Now, President Tinubu made it simple in agreeing to work with America, it’s just being realistic. If for 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 years we have been fighting them, and rather than things getting better, it’s getting worse, it means we are not coping.
And then, let’s ask for help. And let’s cooperate. We are not submitting our sovereignty to America. No. We are working hand-in-hand with them to deal with these wicked people that are creating hell for Nigeria. By the time they know that both Nigerian military and American military are working together to flush them out, they will withdraw.
If they know that they cannot practise their game again, they will go back to where they have come. So, we thank God that things like this are happening.
Now, to our politicians generally, we want to thank you. We see that during this festive season, palliatives have been distributed all over the nation. Every state, every local government, thank you. We commend you for this. But gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen in governance, we need more than palliatives. We need good governance.
Deal with insecurity decisively. Deal with banditry decisively. Deal with kidnappers decisively. Deal with corruption decisively. Do not turn the anti-corruption agencies into political tools. No, be fair and just to everyone.
Do not create a safe haven for people who have stolen our billions and have stashed them outside. And then we must say, okay, if you switch to our party or do something, we will shield you. No, don’t shield corruption. Expose corruption and clamp down heavily on corruption. And the Lord will bless our government. The Lord bless Nigeria.
The government of President Bola Tinubu is stepping up the fight against insecurity. For a long time, we have been asking for a change, an overhaul in the security architecture of Nigeria. We saw a bit of it now. The appointment of a new Minister of Defence and some shuffling going on, indicating the determination of President Bola Tinubu to deal with the matter of corruption, and of insecurity, head on.
We want our president to push it to its logical conclusion, to spare no one, to allow no sacred cow. If we don’t bring insecurity down, insecurity will bring this nation down. The Commander-in-Chief should be commander-in-chief indeed, to deal with it.
When the previous administration came out with this odious and nefarious policy of integrating the so-called repentant bandits into the military system, we cried out at that time that this is playing with fire. It’s like you put a cobra on your head and you’re putting your cup on it, when you are bringing the so-called repentant terrorists. First and foremost, there is nothing like repentant terrorists.
Our girls are being kidnapped and forcefully married without the consent of their parents. And the parents don’t see them for years until they have produced children. The Chibok community, where hundreds of our girls were kidnapped, is a predominantly Christian community.
‘And that’s how the target was on. We have been crying for decades. We have submitted papers to the United Nations with facts and figures. We submitted to the Congress of America. Somehow, those information piled up and got to the notice of Donald Trump. And God stirred him up, like in the Bible, when God stirred Cyrus to rise to something.
We all are witnessing this since Trump spoke, our government has taken the matter much more seriously than ever before. That’s what we have wanted them to do. I want to urge them to continue to cooperate with America, but to re-flush out these hoodlums, and cooperate with America without subjugating our sovereignty to them. So, we’ve never denied that there is Christian genocide in Nigeria. But other people are being killed also, who don’t agree with that kind of view of Boko Haram.
The bottom line is, whether Muslim, Christians, or anybody else, no Nigerian should be killed needlessly.
I am appealing to leaders in the Islamic religion, beginning with His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, down the line, that they should speak out clearly. How come that all these five groups that are terrorising Nigeria are using Islam as a cover?
When they want to go and kill people, they always start by shouting, ‘Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar’, and it’s recorded. Let the leaders tell them to stop using the noble religion to commit atrocity and evil. Islam is not evil. When they speak out like that, then we’ll know that they are serious. They shouldn’t come out and be attacking us on what we have facts and figures about.
Who wants to contest that Plateau State is predominantly Christian? Who wants to contest that Benue State is predominantly Christian? Who wants to contend that Taraba is predominantly Christian? Who wants to contend that Southern Kaduna is predominantly Christian? Why is the killing persisting there?
Rather than the Islamic leaders attacking us, they should attack their people, who are using the noble religion of Islam to commit atrocity and wickedness. Where there is no fire, there will be no smoke. We are crying out because their people are killing the church in the North, and we want the killing to stop. The blood of the martyrs is crying out in Nigeria, and God heard and said to the man in America, who has the capacity to stop the evil, if Nigerians will cooperate. So, please, let’s call a spade a spade. It’s a targeted killing of Christians in Nigeria.
The first responsibility of any government is to secure the life and property of all Nigerians.
What are the things God has been showing you concerning Nigeria and Nigerians for the new year 2026?
First and foremost, insurgency will go down drastically through the next cycle. President Bola Tinubu will now know he has no option but to crack down on those that are making life unbearable for Nigeria. He is aware that the international community is now interested.
So, he has to live up to his bidding. And I want to believe he is serious about it. He is concerned about it, and he is working hard about it. All Nigerians should cooperate with him to make sure that we bring an end to insecurity in this nation. So, 2026, will witness a drastic reduction in insecurity, kidnapping, and all this genocide that we’re talking about.
Number two, I believe also that the economy of Nigeria will improve. We are aware that there is an economic dimension to this insecurity.
There are areas of the nation, particularly in the north, where some precious metals have been discovered. And then these hoodlums will go there to create chaos in order to be able to have free access to these precious metals and then mine them illegally. The government is aware.
When insecurity is brought down, then economic activities will rise up, and Nigeria will fare better.
In 2026, migration to other countries -JAPA – will reduce a lot because up until now, our youth want to go anywhere. But as things improve in Nigeria, that JAPA syndrome also will go down.
Finally, I believe the gospel will be preached more fervently in Nigeria like the previous year, in 2026.
We’re not only seeing light at the end of the tunnel. We are seeing light lining the tunnel. So, brethren, every Nigerian, high, low, great, small, young, old, there is hope for Nigeria. We have experienced setbacks, okay? But God is sending us help. The fact that Donald Trump would cry out that there is genocide in Nigeria, that is God coming to help us.
And the fact that the church joined in the voice of Donald Trump to amplify it that there is indeed genocide in Nigeria is a wake-up call. All of us, the government, Christians, Muslims and, whatever your religion, we should join hands together to end the killing of any innocent Nigerian, whether that person is a Muslim or is a Christian. No Nigerian should be killed by extrajudicial means.
Let’s join hands and end the killings of Nigerians, particularly in Plateau State, in Taraba State, in Benue State, in Southern Kaduna, and in Kwara, or in any other part of Nigeria.
No Nigerian should die needlessly, irrespective of faith or religion.
Do you agree with the claims that the Islamic extremists are intentionally killing Christians in the country?
The Boko Haram thing, what is their ideology? They said Boko Haram is a threat for the people of the book. And in Islam, the people of the book are Jews and Christians.
And they declared their intention that they wanted to wipe Christianity out of the north and establish an Islamic caliphate.
There was a time, I don’t know if you are aware, they gave the church in the north a quit notice to vacate the north and leave because they’re going to begin to attack. The government of the day at that time did not reprimand them, did not reply to them, and they began to attack.
Yes, other people have been killed also, other Muslims. But the killing of the Muslims is secondary. It is the liberal Muslims, who do not agree with their radical view, and who criticised them for turning Muslims against Christians.
Their main objective was to wipe out Christianity in the north and establish the Islamic caliphate. And they have not repented. Then, they broke into factions, including Fulani herdsmen, bandits, Boko Haram, Lakurawa and so on. If you look at it, including the Sheikh that has been negotiating forgiveness. That is arrant nonsense. The man shouldn’t be walking free on the street. He should be locked up. The greater thief is not the guy who will steal. The one who aids and abets is part of the gang. So, we shouldn’t tolerate them at all.
We shouldn’t negotiate with them. We should bring the fire on them. They are not merciful to those that they kill.
So why should we be merciful to them? They are not merciful to those that they kidnap. Why should we be merciful to them? They don’t even care. They don’t have feelings about children. They will make them march kilometres in the night.
So, the state should not play games with them. So, we believe there is Christian genocide in Nigeria. And we are crying out.
Let the government defend, not just the church, every single Nigerian.
What are your thoughts on the current state of Nigerian politics? Then, what is your advice for Nigerian politicians on the need for accountability, transparency and good governance?
Now, I see some of the players have done well beyond average. There are 36 states in this country today.
In the state, pensioners are paid. Salaries are promptly paid. Investment in education, investment in agriculture. It’s happening in 36 states. We commend such people, such governance. Let their kind increase.
There’s a lot of cross-carpeting going on. It’s lamentable there is no politics of principles in Nigeria. There’s no politics of ideology in Nigeria. It’s the politics of opportunism. Where will I win? How can I enter? It is not because of love for the people or care for the people. They just want to win.
Until we change this culture and begin to have politics of principles and politics of ideology, we’ll still play the same game, having corrupt people who feel they spend money and they must recoup the money with everything in the state. I’m not a politician. I cannot speak much about that. But with that kind of mindset, you can’t go too far. May God help Nigeria.
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They want to establish Islamic and they are killing Muslims in thousands, you are out of points, if you don’t have what to say better keep shot.
Immediately i red the headline i found it difficult to read the rest.