Worshippers inside the Church auditorium during the program
The General Superintendent, Assemblies of God Nigeria, Rev. Prof. Paul Emeka, has said that instead of Nigeria claiming to be a sovereign nation, they should rather negotiate with the American government on how to stop terrorism and many senseless killings in Nigeria, Christians and Muslims alike.
He suggested that Nigeria should approach America for negotiation to nip killings, insurgency, terrorism, and banditry in the bud.
“Now that Trump has shown interest, we like it. Positively, let the Nigerian government enter into negotiations with America. Actually, people are dying. Whether we call them Christians or pagans, people are dying, and America should come and help us. America has the apparatus; America has the know-how to come and help us to stop it if we engage them positively.
“But if we don’t engage them, they have decided that they will come, and it is a welcome development. Everybody welcomes it. If anybody goes to the newspaper and says Nigeria is a sovereign nation, that is for the newspaper, but anybody whose brother is killed will not say so. Our brothers are killed, people are dying,” he said.
Rev. Emeka was speaking with journalists during their 5-day annual national revival summit tagged: “Peniel 2025,” and themed: “Greater Tomorrow,” that took place in Enugu from November 3 to November 7, 2025.
The General Superintendent, who was speaking on the background of the recent statement credited to the US president, Donald Trump, that Nigeria has been designated a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for the alleged killing of Christians in the country.
Emeka reiterated that instead of Nigerians clinging to the ”sovereign nation” status, they should invite the U.S to help them curb the incessant killings ravaging the country. He insisted that, indeed, Christians are being killed in Nigeria and that nobody should deny the fact.
According to him, “What we want to say is that it is a reality, Christians are being killed in large numbers. They are killed en masse. In Jos, they are killed in large numbers, almost on a daily basis. You see in Maiduguri and all over. I know that once in a while a Muslim dies, but the people that are targeted are Christians, where you have up to one thousand casualties, nine hundred and ninety-nine are Christians. So, we do not have to pay lip service or politics with the lives of people.”
He further said, “America says they will intervene, and everybody likes it. Why won’t we like it? It is not a matter of whether Nigeria is a sovereign nation or not; it is a matter of Christians being killed in Nigeria? They are dying, and America feels concerned to come. Instead of playing the usual politics with this and going about to quote one law or the other, saying that Nigeria is a sovereign nation and nobody shall intervene, do you mean because we are a sovereign nation and nobody intervenes, we kill people selectively, we kill Christians and don’t kill others?” he queried.
Rev Emeka also spoke on the ongoing trial of the IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, insisting that Nigeria has no reason to continue to hold him while negotiating with bandits and terrorists.
Rev. Paul Emeka (middle) and other pastors
He said: “Can you believe that the Nigerian government can stop the killing if they want, but they don’t want, they play politics. It is just like Kanu, who is in prison, and his continuous detention is not necessary. No single reason should make Kanu to be there. You can’t be talking that Kanu is a terrorist or sponsored terrorism, whereas you display an array of great terrorists on their machines, brandishing their guns, and everybody is seeing them, but you leave thousands of people who are killing people every day, and you target Kanu alone. We are not fools. If Nigeria wants peace, let them do something. Let Tinubu rise up and do something. I do not know what is holding him back from acting. These things can stop if they mean business. If Nigeria is a sovereign nation, let Nigeria show her sovereignty by the way it sovereignly stops the terrorists from going about in the North, in the South, killing people.
That is really the advice and the desire of everybody who is genuine and who is honest.” Rev Emeka also spoke on the Revival Summit, The Peniel. He explained that it was a huge success and even surpassed the previous years, and expressed optimism that “it shall continue” to get better in future.
“The Peniel this year has been a huge success. As you know, it is an annual event. We hold it every year and we call it an annual revival summit for the church in that our members from all over the nation came. This year has been a huge success dynamic in that all the men that God used, they really yielded themselves to speak to needs of the people and they speak to the needs of the nation.
“We are happy about that. I must say that the attendance this year has been the highest since we started and we are happy about it because people are coming from far away – Zamfara, Maiduguri, Ijaws and Yorubaland, Mid West, all over and so, notwithstanding the cost of transportation, they still came and that is why we really put value to their presence or coming.”
He further said: “The theme is ‘Greater Tomorrow’ and the fact is that in the nation of Nigeria, when things look bleak, people don’t have much hope for tomorrow, we still mention the fact that God is a God of tomorrow and God is the owner of Nigeria. He will not abandon the country. He will see us through and give us a greater tomorrow. Let nobody lose hope, let’s have our faith in God; that God is going to make everything alright.”
He believed that tomorrow would be better and asked Nigerians to seek God for divine favour and provision.
“We say that men in Nigeria and all over should seek the riches that God gives because when God gives it shall be one is one. If we pursue riches that don’t come from God, they will decay, and we become poor at last. Lastly, we say that it is redemptive because it is. The Bible said that it is in Christ Jesus. It is only when we are in Christ that we get it,” he urged.
