Prominent Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has called on the Federal Government to immediately suspend all military cooperation with the United States following reported US airstrikes on terrorist targets in Nigeria’s North West.
In remarks circulating on social media on Friday, Gumi warned that American military involvement could worsen Nigeria’s security challenges and undermine national sovereignty, arguing that foreign intervention risks escalating violence rather than resolving it.
His comments come amid heightened public debate following confirmation by Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that recent airstrikes were carried out through structured security and intelligence cooperation with the United States.
Who Is Sheikh Ahmad Gumi?
Sheikh Ahmad Gumi is a Kaduna-based Islamic scholar and a long-standing, polarising voice in northern Nigeria’s religious and security discourse. He is the son of the late Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, one of Nigeria’s most influential Islamic clerics of the post-independence era.
Over the past decade, Gumi has become nationally prominent not for formal political office but for his outspoken interventions on insecurity, particularly banditry and jihadist violence in northern Nigeria. He has consistently argued that many armed groups operating in the North West are “misguided youths” rather than ideological terrorists, a position that has put him at odds with security agencies and many victims’ groups.
Engagement With Armed Groups and Public Criticism
Gumi attracted widespread controversy in 2020–2021 when he openly admitted to meeting bandit leaders in forests across Kaduna, Zamfara, and Niger States. He defended these engagements as peace-building efforts, arguing that dialogue and economic inclusion were more effective than military force.
These actions triggered sharp criticism from across Nigeria’s political and civil society spectrum. Critics accused him of legitimising criminal networks, undermining the morale of security forces, and downplaying the atrocities committed by armed groups, including mass kidnappings, village massacres, and attacks on schools.
Senior government officials and security analysts have repeatedly rejected Gumi’s framing, insisting that banditry in the North West is deeply intertwined with terrorism, arms trafficking, and transnational criminal networks.
Consistent Opposition to Foreign Military Involvement
Gumi’s opposition to US military involvement is consistent with his long-standing scepticism of Western security interventions. He has previously criticised Western counterterrorism strategies in the Middle East and Africa, arguing that they often aggravate instability and civilian harm.
However, his latest comments land in a sensitive political moment. The Federal Government has explicitly framed the US airstrikes as sovereign, intelligence-led operations requested by Nigeria, and has stressed that terrorism affects Muslims and Christians alike, not one religious group.
Limited Resonance Beyond Elite Circles
While Gumi retains influence in some religious circles, analysts say his call to halt cooperation with the US is unlikely to gain broad traction, particularly in communities most affected by violence. Northern Nigeria’s largely Muslim population has suffered disproportionately from banditry and terrorism, leading to widespread public fatigue rather than ideological opposition to external support.
Many security experts also note that modern counterterrorism operations—especially precision airstrikes—are impossible without deep intelligence collaboration, surveillance, and technical capabilities that Nigeria continues to strengthen with foreign partners.
A Familiar Fault Line in Nigeria’s Security Debate
Gumi’s intervention underscores a familiar fault line in Nigeria’s security conversation: dialogue versus force, sovereignty versus external support, and ideology versus lived insecurity. While his views resonate with some who fear escalation and foreign influence, they continue to provoke strong backlash from those who see them as detached from the realities faced by terrorised communities.
For now, the Federal Government has given no indication that it plans to reverse its security cooperation framework with the United States.
