Gumi warns US involvement in Nigeria’s counterterrorism fight will attract more terror
By: Abudu Olalekan
Sheikh Abubakar Gumi has come out again—loud and clear—and this time he’s warning Nigeria to be very careful about bringing foreign military forces, especially the United States, into the country’s fight against terrorism.
The Islamic cleric, who’s spoken on security issues for years now, said on Monday, May 18, in a statement posted on Facebook, that Nigeria’s sovereignty is “a red line.” In other words, don’t play with it. He sounded honestly stunned by some of the public talk going around, especially claims that the Nigerian military had been stopped from going after bandits or Boko Haram. “That’s false,” he said. “And malicious too.”
According to him, nobody ever ordered the military to halt operations against unrepentant terrorists. Well, except the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua—that one was different, he explained. But using amnesty as an excuse to stop fighting Boko Haram or other violent groups? Nah. Never happened.
And then he got a bit reflective.
Gumi pointed out that it’s now almost 17 years since Boko Haram founder, Muhammad Yusuf, was extra-judicially killed in 2009. Seventeen years. And yet, here we are—Boko Haram still causing pain, still killing people, even high-ranking officers. That alone, he said, should tell us something is deeply wrong.
He didn’t hold back on the military either. Not in a hateful way, but like someone who’s tired of watching the same mistakes repeat. He argued that the “kinetic approach”—the heavy military crackdown—has largely failed, and a big reason is the way civilians have been treated. Innocent people getting caught up, abused, or worse. “Until our hands are not stained with the blood of innocent people,” he warned, “this war will keep eating away at our sovereignty. In fact, it already has.”
Still, he insisted the Nigerian military is not helpless. Far from it. If the rules of engagement are fair, if there’s less prejudice and deception—both in how force is used and how money is managed—then the military can handle the situation. He really believes that.
But foreign involvement? That’s where he draws the line hard.
Gumi said bringing in the United States, or any foreign power, would only make things worse. “It will attract international terror groups to this new arena,” he warned, “and expose Nigeria to even more violence… violence that some of these foreign forces are complicit in.” Yeah, he said that.
He also raised questions about former American diplomat Russell Hanks, asking why he allegedly refused to comment on accusations linked to the 1995 bombing of a bookshop at the Durbar Hotel in Kaduna. And he referenced U.S. Congressman Scott Perry, who claimed back in February 2025 that USAID had inadvertently funded terrorist organisations—including Boko Haram, ISIS, and Al-Qaeda. Whether people agree with him or not, Gumi clearly thinks Nigerians should wake up and stop being so quick to surrender the country’s future to outsiders. “Some of us have a slave mentality,” he said bluntly. “We must resist foreign subjugation.”
He ended with a call for unity and support for Nigeria’s armed forces.
Meanwhile, Reportersroom reported that the Defence Headquarters in Abuja confirmed the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as a senior ISIS commander and one of the world’s most wanted terrorists. The operation, according to the military, was a joint effort between Nigerian and U.S. forces. Al-Minuki was said to be linked to the 2018 mass kidnapping of over 100 schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe State—including Leah Sharibu, who sadly is still missing. U.S. President Donald Trump also announced the operation, calling al-Minuki ISIS’s second-in-command globally.
