Kaduna-based Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi has alleged that he was informed he had been marked for elimination as a Boko Haram member on the same day a United States military airstrike was carried out in Nigeria.
Gumi made the assertion while speaking to worshippers in a video that has since gone viral. The clip was shared on Sunday by an X user identified as #General_Somto.
According to the cleric, he received a phone call early that morning from an unnamed contact in Abuja who briefed him on discussions at a high-level national security meeting.
He claimed the caller told him his name had appeared on a list of individuals allegedly approved 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.
His comments followed the US airstrikes carried out on December 25 against fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Sokoto State. The operation came after former US President Donald Trump warned that America could step in to confront militants in Nigeria, threatening to go in “guns-a-blazing to wipe out the terrorists killing Christians.”
Gumi condemned foreign military involvement in Nigeria, insisting that such actions only deepen the country’s security challenges rather than solve them.
“They claim to have come here to fight terrorists, but they are the actual terrorists,” he said.
He also questioned the global narrative on terrorism, arguing that powerful countries bear responsibility for the emergence of extremist 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 contributing to the rise of Boko Haram.
The cleric further alleged that Nigeria’s growing insecurity and internal divisions were being driven by foreign policies and narratives, which he linked to the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Gumi also criticised political and religious leaders in northern Nigeria over what he described as their muted response to repeated Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks.
“The north, you all know they attacked, but where are your leaders and what have they done about it?” he asked.
He went on to fault some religious scholars, accusing them of failing to challenge what he called false claims by terrorists and of offering support only 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,” Gumi said.
Lamenting the general silence surrounding these issues, he added, “It happens, and nobody is talking; they are all afraid to talk. That’s the situation we are in this country.”
