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.
In a statement issued by his media aide, Adeola Oloko, on Sunday in Ibadan, Ladoja lamented that Nigeria had 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.
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.
