We don’t need US intervention to fight insurgency, it’ll attract foreign terror groups – Sheikh Gumi counsels ‘gullible Nigerians’

Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has warned that United States military intervention in Nigeria’s anti-terror campaign risks eroding national sovereignty and transforming the country into an attractive “new arena” for global terrorist networks.

Prominent Islamic cleric and former military captain Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has strongly warned that involving the United States military in Nigeria’s ongoing anti-terror operations could backfire by drawing global extremist networks into the country. In a comprehensive statement published on his official Facebook page on Monday, May 18, 2026, Gumi expressed deep concern that expanding bilateral defense partnerships with Washington would erode Nigeria’s national sovereignty, which he categorized as an inviolable “red line.” The cleric argued that rather than pacifying the region, the introduction of American kinetic assets would inadvertently introduce an unnecessary surge in local casualty figures by rendering the country a high-profile battlefield for transnational jihadist factions looking to confront Western forces.

Gumi robustly challenged critics who claim the Nigerian military has been restricted from aggressively confronting bandits or Boko Haram insurgents, characterizing such narratives as entirely false and malicious. Reflecting on nearly two decades of internal security challenges since the 2009 extrajudicial execution of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf, the cleric maintained that an exclusively kinetic approach has historically failed due to structural issues and operational excesses that leave innocent populations caught in the crossfire. He insisted that the Armed Forces of Nigeria possess the latent capability to adequately stabilize the country independently, provided internal rules of engagement are thoroughly sanitized of financial deception, prejudice, and heavy-handed tactical measures.

Lambasting proponents of foreign military intervention, the Kaduna-based cleric described individuals demanding deep U.S. combat involvement as “gullible” citizens suffering from a deeply ingrained “slave mentality.” He warned that entering into expansive operational dependencies with foreign powers often leads to a compromised defense posture where domestic forces lose control over their own strategic data and intelligence assets. “The involvement of the USA will only attract the international terror groups to the ‘new arena’ exposing Nigeria to an unnecessary increase in violence, in which these same foreign forces are complicit,” Gumi remarked, emphasizing that true national security can only be achieved by addressing local socio-economic realities and ensuring a morally disciplined, transparently funded domestic military apparatus.

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