Kaduna State-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has said Nigeria’s collaboration with the United States in its fight against terrorism will inadvertently lead to an influx of international terror groups into the country.
He issued the warning on Monday, 18 May 2026, via a post shared on his official Facebook page.
His advice followed recent revelations by US President Donald Trump and his Nigerian counterpart, President Bola Tinubu, that the second-in-command of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) worldwide, Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, was eliminated during a joint military operation.
Confirming the development via his official Truth Social account, the US leader said: “Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield.
“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second-in-command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing.”
However, whilst counselling against the involvement of the US in the fight, Gumi noted that Nigeria’s sovereignty “is a red line”.
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He further argued that the country’s military is capable of handling insecurity if operations are carried out without “prejudices and deception”.
The cleric went on to dismiss claims that the military had been prevented from confronting bandits and Boko Haram insurgents due to amnesty initiatives, describing such allegations as “false and malicious”.
According to him, Boko Haram has remained active nearly 17 years after the extrajudicial killing of its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, in 2009.
He also stated that the failure of the kinetic approach in tackling insecurity was linked to alleged excesses by security forces and the killing of innocent civilians.
Gumi wrote: “The military can handle the situation if the rules of engagement are free from prejudices and deception, both in the application of force and finances.
“The involvement of the USA will only attract international terror groups to the ‘new arena,’ exposing Nigeria to an unnecessary increase in violence.”