Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has alleged that he was informed he had been placed on a list of individuals marked for elimination as a Boko Haram associate on the same day the United States carried out a military airstrike in Nigeria.
Gumi made the allegation while speaking to worshippers in a video that has since gained wide circulation online. The video was shared on Sunday by an X user identified as #General_Somto.
According to the cleric, he received a phone call in the early hours of that morning from an unnamed source in Abuja, who claimed to have knowledge of deliberations at a national security meeting. Gumi said the caller told him that his name was among those allegedly selected 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,” Gumi said. He added that northern leaders and Islamic clerics must speak out against what he described as false and dangerous allegations.
The claim followed a US airstrike carried out on December 25 against members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in Sokoto State.
The operation came after former US President Donald Trump publicly threatened that the United States would intervene in Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to eliminate terrorists he claimed were targeting Christians.
Gumi criticised the involvement of foreign forces in Nigeria’s security affairs, insisting that such interventions often aggravate the crisis rather than bring lasting solutions.
“They say they have come to fight terrorists, but in reality, they are the terrorists,” he stated.
He further challenged the global narrative around terrorism, arguing that powerful foreign nations bear responsibility for the emergence and spread of insurgent groups.
“Even the 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 also alleged that Nigeria’s growing insecurity and deepening social divisions were being driven by foreign influence, policies, and rhetoric, which he linked to the administration of President Donald Trump.
Gumi expressed disappointment over what he described as the muted response of political and religious leaders in northern Nigeria to repeated attacks by **Boko Haram and ISWAP**, questioning their silence and lack of decisive action.
“The north—everyone knows they have been attacked. But where are your leaders, and what have they done about it?” he asked.
He also took aim at religious scholars, accusing them of failing to challenge false claims made by terrorists and of supporting what he described as selective humanitarian assistance.
“They attacked us based on false claims, and they provide financial support only to Christians. No country will accept that. Either you support the entire nation, or we don’t need it,” he said.
Gumi concluded by lamenting what he described as a culture of fear and silence, noting that many people were afraid to speak out despite ongoing developments.
“It happens, and nobody is talking. Everyone is afraid. That is the situation we find ourselves in as a country,” he added.
