Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has reacted to claims of genocide against Christians in Nigeria, describing the narrative as politically motivated and targeted towards the 2027 elections.
Gumi stated this in a post shared on his Facebook page while reacting to U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to designate Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” over alleged persecution of Christians.
Trump had, on Friday, yielded to pressure from foreign advocacy groups calling for Nigeria to be placed on a special watch-list over reported attacks on Christian communities, despite repeated denials from the Nigerian government that no genocide was taking place.
In his response, Gumi accused some religious figures in Nigeria of collaborating with foreign powers to advance divisive agendas. He insisted that the U.S. has no business interfering in what he described as Nigeria’s internal security issues.
His words, “Nigeria 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 the governor of Anambra, Soludo, we have many unpatriotic bigot clerics that are aiding imperialists to divide us further so that they can pillage our resources. Otherwise, what can they even do?”
Gumi argued that the United States currently has its own internal struggles and should not be dictating narratives or policies for Nigeria.
“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. All the bluff is about 2027.”
The cleric further warned that some groups operating under the guise of humanitarian organisations had previously armed violent groups and could attempt to repeat the same pattern.
“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.”
Gumi, therefore, called for a stronger, more assertive Nigerian foreign policy and urged citizens to be wary of internal actors he described as “unpatriotic” and aiding foreign interests.