Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, claimed that the US government wanted to eliminate him for his alleged membership of Boko Haram terrorist group.
Gumi said he was informed that he was listed for elimination as a Boko Haram figure on the same morning a US military air strike occurred in Nigeria.
Gumi made the claim while addressing his congregation in a video that has gone viral.
It was posted by X user, #General_Somto, on Sunday.
The cleric said he received an early-morning call from an unnamed source in Abuja who briefed him about a national security meeting.
According to him, the caller said his name was among those allegedly identified for assassination.
“I received a call from a top official in Abuja informing me that I am among those marked by the US for elimination through an American airstrike, as part of Boko Haram. Northern leaders and clerics must speak up against these lies,” Gumi said.
On December 25, the United States launched air strikes on members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Sokoto State.
The incident followed a threat made by former US President Donald Trump that the US would intervene in Nigeria “guns-a-blazing to wipe out the terrorists killing Christians.”
Gumi strongly criticised foreign military involvement in Nigeria, arguing that such interventions worsen insecurity rather than resolve it.
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“They claim to have come here to fight terrorists, but they are the actual terrorists,” he said.
He also questioned the broader narrative surrounding terrorism, suggesting that global powers were partly responsible for the emergence of insurgent groups.
“Even Americans said they came to fight terrorists, so who are the terrorists? They are the ones,” he said, accusing the United States of playing a role in the rise of Boko Haram.
Gumi further alleged that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and social divisions were fueled by foreign influence, policies, and narratives he attributed to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The cleric also questioned the response of political and religious leaders in northern Nigeria to repeated attacks by Boko Haram and ISWAP, expressing frustration over what he described as silence and inaction.
“The north, you all know they attacked, but where are your leaders and what have they done about it?” Gumi asked.
He further criticised religious scholars, accusing them of failing to address false claims made by terrorists and of providing support exclusively to Christians.
“They attacked us for false claims, and they give support of a certain amount of money to Christians alone. No country will accept that. Either you give support to the entire nation, or we don’t need it,” he said.
“It happens, and nobody is talking; they are all afraid to talk. That’s the situation we are in this country,” he added.
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