Islamic cleric based in Kaduna State, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has claimed that he was alerted that his name had been included on a list of individuals allegedly identified as Boko Haram members for elimination during a recent United States military airstrike in Nigeria.
Gumi made the allegation while addressing worshippers during a sermon, footage of which circulated widely on social media on Sunday.
According to the cleric, he received an early morning call from a source in Abuja on the same day the airstrike was carried out, informing him of deliberations at a high-level security meeting.
“I was called early in the morning by someone in Abuja who told me that my name was among those the Americans had allegedly marked for elimination through an airstrike, labelling me a Boko Haram member,” Gumi said.
The cleric said the information left him alarmed and prompted him to call on northern leaders and Islamic scholars to challenge what he described as false narratives surrounding terrorism in Nigeria.
“Northern leaders and clerics must speak out against these allegations and lies,” he added.
On December 25, the United States carried out airstrikes targeting suspected Islamic State West Africa Province elements in parts of Sokoto State, following threats by former U.S. President Donald Trump to take military action against terrorists operating in Nigeria.
Gumi strongly criticised foreign military intervention in Nigeria’s security crisis, arguing that such involvement often aggravates rather than resolves insecurity.
“They say they have come to fight terrorists, but in reality they end up becoming part of the problem,” he said.
He further questioned global narratives around terrorism, alleging that foreign powers bear some responsibility for the emergence and persistence of insurgent groups in the region.
“When they claim to be fighting terrorism, we must ask who the real terrorists are and how these groups were created in the first place,” Gumi stated.
The cleric also expressed frustration over what he described as the silence of political and religious leaders in northern Nigeria following repeated attacks by Boko Haram and ISWAP.
“Our communities are under attack, yet our leaders remain quiet. What concrete steps have they taken?” he asked.
Gumi additionally criticised what he described as selective international support to victims of insurgency, warning that unequal assistance could deepen divisions in the country.
“No nation will accept a situation where support is given to one group alone. If assistance is to come, it must be for everyone,” he said.
As of the time of filing this report, there has been no official confirmation from Nigerian or United States authorities regarding Gumi’s claims.
