Sheikh Ahmad Gumi
Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has claimed that security sources warned him he had been listed among individuals allegedly marked for elimination as Boko Haram figures, a revelation that has sparked fresh debate and controversy.
Gumi made the allegation while addressing worshippers in a video that has since gone viral. He said he received an early-morning phone call from an unnamed source in Abuja who disclosed that his name surfaced during a high-level security meeting.
“They called me from Abuja and told me there was a security meeting. They said I have been marked, that I will be eliminated. And who are Boko Haram?” Gumi queried while speaking to his congregation.
According to the cleric, the caller informed him that his name was among those allegedly identified for assassination, though no official statement has been issued by security agencies to confirm the claim.
Gumi went further to challenge prevailing narratives around terrorism, arguing that powerful foreign interests were behind the emergence of insurgent groups. He accused the United States of contributing to the rise of Boko Haram, insisting that the global fight against terrorism was riddled with contradictions.
“Even Americans said they came to fight terrorists, so who are the terrorists? They are the ones,” he said.
The cleric also linked Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and deepening social divisions to foreign influence, policies and narratives he attributed to United States President Donald Trump. He faulted Nigeria’s political and religious leadership for remaining silent as the country drifted further into crisis.
According to Gumi, foreign-backed funding and messaging have deliberately portrayed Christians as the sole victims of insecurity, a narrative he said was designed to inflame tensions and deepen mistrust between communities.
“Because of lies, you brought violence. But where are the leaders? What did they do? What about the scholars? Everyone has gone to hide in their corners,” he said.
He argued that no sovereign nation would tolerate external interference aimed at dividing its people along religious or social lines, warning that such actions threaten national cohesion.
“Which country would agree to bring something in just to divide its people? Either you bring all of us together, or you hold us and hand us over to them,” Gumi added.
The cleric accused political and religious elites of abandoning meaningful dialogue, leaving Nigerians with what he described as “noise” rather than solutions, even as hardship, oppression and denial of rights continued to intensify.
Warning that fear, silence and division were pushing the country deeper into turmoil, Gumi said continued inaction by leaders and scholars would only worsen Nigeria’s challenges.
“This is the kind of situation we are in. It is dragging the country down,” he concluded.
