New President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Wale Oke, says now is the time for President Muhammadu Buhari to put into action his 2015 Inauguration declaration that he “belongs to everyone and belongs to no one”.
Oke, who is the Founder of Sword of the Spirit Ministries, stated this in an interview with Saturday Sun while addressing claims that the Buhari administration has been protecting violent Fulani herdsmen.
The cleric said that the nefarious activities of killer herdsmen has been a matter of nation debate which no prominent Nigerian could shy away from.
He said it was worrisome that people were being killed or kidnapped and their lands grabbed without serious consequences for the perpetrators.
This, he said, has given rise to the notion that the Federal Government is pampering criminals.
“It was happening in one section of the country before. Now, it has spread all over,” the PFN President lamented.
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Oke said it was high time the Federal Government rose to the occasion to address the situation.
“The government should rise up to the occasion and do better. The government should not give a picture that the government of the day is behind a particular tribe.
“We should remind our president when he was inaugurated, he made a speech that he belongs to no one and he be- longs to everybody.
“This is the time to prove it. We know he is a Fulani by tribe. We know he is a herder by culture and tradition. He should call his people together and tell them: ‘You see, I am a Fulani person. I am a herder like you. But our tribe is not a criminal tribe. Our tribe, we are upright and principled. We believe in fairness and justice. And our tribe, we do not condone criminality. If I found anyone of you with issues of raping, killing, maiming and doing all those things, no matter what it is, you will face the full wrath of the law.’
“Then, let him follow it through. By the time many are sent to jail, some are killed, everybody will swing. They will know that the president is not for a particular tribe. The president is for justice, righteousness, and uprightness, and any- body that has criminal tendency has reasons to be afraid what the government can do because the government will bring the weight of justice to bear on that person.
“Many that are doing well should not be afraid of the government. They should defend the government. This is irrespective of tribe or tongue, or whatever. So, that is the essence of governance. Governance is not to pamper criminals.”