Controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has cautioned against any United States involvement in Nigeria’s counterterrorism operations, insisting that such a move could worsen the country’s already fragile security situation.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Gumi argued that Nigeria must be careful not to compromise its sovereignty while seeking external assistance to tackle insecurity, including banditry and the Boko Haram insurgency.
He maintained that Nigeria’s sovereignty is a “red line” and insisted that the country’s military is capable of addressing the security challenges if operations are guided by fairness, transparency, and proper rules of engagement.
According to him, foreign military intervention—particularly from the United States—could turn Nigeria into a hotspot for international terrorist networks, potentially escalating violence rather than reducing it.
Gumi warned that such involvement could attract foreign extremist groups into Nigeria, exposing citizens to broader and more complex security threats.
He wrote that the military can effectively handle the situation if engagement rules are free from bias and deception in both force application and resource management, adding that external intervention would only create a “new arena” for global terror actors.
The cleric also rejected claims that the Nigerian military had been restrained from acting against insurgents due to amnesty programmes, describing the allegation as false and misleading.
He further argued that reliance on military force alone has not ended terrorism, noting that Boko Haram has continued its activities nearly 17 years after the death of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, in 2009.
Gumi blamed the persistence of insecurity partly on alleged excesses by security forces and claimed that abuses against civilians during operations have contributed to the cycle of violence.
He concluded that lasting peace can only be achieved through a balanced approach that avoids injustice, prejudice, and financial mismanagement, warning that force alone will not resolve Nigeria’s security crisis if root causes are ignored.
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