Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has claimed that he was identified for elimination in a planned United States airstrike in Nigeria, allegedly after being wrongly profiled as a Boko Haram figure.
Gumi made the allegation while addressing his followers in a video that has since gone viral on social media. The footage was shared on Sunday by X user @General_Somto.
According to the cleric, he received an early-morning phone call from an unnamed source in Abuja who briefed him on deliberations at a national security meeting held the same day a US military airstrike took place.
He said the caller informed him that his name was among those allegedly marked 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. Northern leaders and clerics must speak up against these lies,” Gumi said.
On December 25, 2025 the United States carried out airstrikes targeting members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in parts of Sokoto State.
The strike followed earlier remarks by President Donald Trump, who had warned that the United States would intervene in Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to wipe out terrorists killing Christians.
Gumi strongly condemned foreign military involvement in Nigeria, arguing that such interventions only deepen insecurity rather than resolve it.
“They claim to have come here to fight terrorists, but they are the actual terrorists,” he said.
The cleric also questioned prevailing global narratives around terrorism, suggesting that powerful foreign actors were partly responsible for the emergence of insurgent groups.
“Even 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.
He further alleged that Nigeria’s worsening insecurity and growing social divisions were being fueled by foreign influence, policies and narratives which he linked to the administration of President Donald Trump.
Gumi also criticised political and religious leaders in northern Nigeria, expressing frustration over what he described as their silence in the face of repeated Boko Haram and ISWAP attacks.
“The north, you all know they attacked, but where are your leaders and what have they done about it?” he asked.
“They attacked us for false claims, and they give support of a certain amount of money to Christians alone. No country will accept that. Either you give support to the entire nation, or we don’t need it. It happens, and nobody is talking; they are all afraid to talk. That’s the situation we are in this country,” he added.