Former Nigerian Ambassador, Dr Yemi Farounbi, has said terrorism poses an existential threat to Nigeria, cautioning that failure to confront it decisively could endanger the country’s continued existence as a sovereign state.

Consequently, the President of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), Bishop Francis Wale Oke, urged President Bola Tinubu not to relent in the fight against insecurity, insisting that terrorists and bandits must be decisively crushed without regard for ‘sacred cows’.

The veteran journalist said many Nigerians had yet to fully grasp the scale, depth and complexity of the crisis, despite widespread insecurity that crippled livelihoods, displaced communities and instilled fear across the country.

Speaking on ‘The Threat of Terrorism and the Crisis of National Survival in Nigeria’, yesterday, in Ibadan, Farounbi said terrorism in its current form was no longer a distant danger but a clear and present threat capable of “erasing Nigeria from the global political map” if left unchecked.

According to him, millions of citizens can no longer travel safely, farm their lands or go about daily activities, while homes, businesses and places of worship have been destroyed by insurgent violence.

He noted that a major misconception was the tendency to view terrorism in Nigeria purely as a religious problem.

Stressing that while some extremist groups misuse religion to justify violence, they represent only a fraction of the broader threat.

“These groups can be countered through education, ideological reorientation and engagement with credible religious leadership,” he said.

Farounbi, however, warned that Nigeria’s most dangerous challenge lay in what he described as “political terrorism” driven by insurgent groups such as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and other armed factions that expanded across parts of the country over the past decade.

He traced the rise of these groups to regional instability, particularly the collapse of Libya following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, which he said unleashed fighters, weapons and extremist ideologies across West Africa.

“Strategic partnerships are not a sign of weakness but a necessity,” he said.

Oke, while speaking on the state of the nation with some journalists in Ibadan, warned that insecurity had become Nigeria’s most dangerous threat and must be tackled with firmness and justice.

According to the PFN president, corruption is no longer the main challenge in Nigeria but insecurity, commending President Donald Trump of the United States for cooperating with the Nigerian state to root out bandits, terrorists and other merchants of death.

“Don’t relent until Nigeria is fully secured. Spare no one. Allow no sacred cows. If you don’t bring insecurity down, it will bring this country down,” the PFN president stated.

He dismissed the idea of negotiating with or rehabilitating terrorists and bandits, describing it as dangerous to national stability.

“There is nothing like repentant terrorists. Governance is not a church service. They are not repenting; they want to enter the system to weaken it from within. If they claim repentance, that is between them and their God.

The duty of government is justice and security,” Oke declared.

The Christian leader lauded Tinubu for “renewed momentum” in tackling insecurity, including the decision to cooperate with international partners such as the U.S.

The cleric called for national unity against violence, stressing that no Nigerian should die needlessly.

“We should all join hands to end the killings of innocent Nigerians. Anyone who inflicts pain on any Nigerian should face the full weight of the law. No Nigerian should die anyhow, whether Christian or Muslim,” he said.