Renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has claimed that he was privately alerted by security contacts in Abuja that his name has been listed among individuals allegedly marked for elimination in connection with the Boko Haram insurgency.
Addressing his followers during a religious gathering, Gumi said he received an early-morning phone call from a source he chose not to identify, who informed him that his name came up during a high-level security meeting in the nation’s capital.
According to the cleric, the caller warned him that he had been tagged as a Boko Haram figure and could be targeted for elimination.
“I was called from Abuja and told there was a security meeting. They said my name was mentioned, that I have been marked for elimination,” Gumi stated, questioning the criteria used to identify terrorists.
He further suggested that global powers, particularly the United States, played a role in the emergence and handling of extremist groups, arguing that the same forces claiming to fight terrorism often redefine who the “terrorists” are.
Gumi alleged that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and deepening social divisions have been fueled by misinformation, foreign influence, and policies he attributed to former U.S. President Donald Trump. He claimed these factors contributed to fear, silence, and fragmentation within the country, while leaders and religious scholars failed to respond decisively.
The cleric also criticised narratives that frame insecurity in Nigeria solely along religious lines, arguing that such portrayals deliberately divide communities and increase mutual suspicion among citizens.
“Because of lies, violence has spread. But where are the leaders? Where are the scholars? Everyone has retreated into their corners,” he lamented.
Gumi maintained that no truly sovereign nation would tolerate external interference designed to polarise its population, warning that such divisions only weaken national unity.
He accused political and religious elites of abandoning dialogue and solutions, leaving Nigerians overwhelmed by hardship, oppression, and the denial of basic rights.
According to him, the atmosphere of fear, silence, and division is steadily pushing the country deeper into crisis.
“This is where we are now,” Gumi said. “And it is dragging the nation downward.”