Controversial Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has described the allegation of a Christian genocide in Nigeria as “politically motivated,” insisting that the renewed international attention on religious persecution is a ploy targeted at influencing the 2027 general elections.
Reacting to the United States’ decision to reclassify Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC), Gumi took to his official Facebook page on Saturday, accusing some “unpatriotic clerics” of collaborating with foreign powers to tarnish the country’s image.
He said, “We have many unpatriotic bigot clerics that are aiding imperialists to divide us further so that they can pillage our resources.”
The cleric was responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement on Friday, placing Nigeria on a religious freedom watchlist over alleged killings of Christians, a claim the Nigerian government has firmly denied.
Gumi dismissed the U.S. move as hypocritical and meddlesome, arguing that Washington had no moral ground to lecture Nigeria on internal issues while facing its own social and economic challenges.
He said, “At a time when Americans are lining up for food rations, what concerns them with our internal problems?
“Yes, this is not to say efforts are not being made to tackle insecurity, but the right combination of strategies is what is lacking to completely nail it. Now they want to compound the problem.”
He claimed that some non-governmental organisations operating in Nigeria were serving as fronts for arming criminal groups under the guise of humanitarian assistance.
“Those who armed the outlaws as NGOs and come around to claim piety, the danger to us is that they form and start arming another militia like they have done in other places,” he warned.
The Kaduna-based cleric lamented what he described as an ongoing campaign to portray Nigeria as a country at war with Christians, insisting that the real crisis was criminality, not religion.
“Nigeria is under their evil eye of religious bigotry! It is evident now we are sharing a country not only with evil people from banditry, BH, IPOB, and other criminals, as confessed recently by Governor Soludo of Anambra, but also with many unpatriotic bigot clerics,” he stated.
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