Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has claimed that he was allegedly listed for elimination by the United States as a Boko Haram figure on the same day a U.S. airstrike was carried out in Nigeria.

Gumi made the allegation while addressing his congregation in a video that has since gone viral on social media. The video was posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday by a user identified as @General_Somto.

According to the cleric, he received an early-morning call from an unnamed source in Abuja who briefed him on deliberations from a national security meeting. He claimed 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 U.S. for elimination through an American airstrike, as part of Boko Haram. Northern leaders and clerics must speak up against these lies,” Gumi said in the video.

The claim comes in the wake of U.S. airstrikes reportedly carried out against members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) in parts of Sokoto State on December 25, 2025.

The military action followed comments by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who had earlier threatened that the United States would intervene in Nigeria “guns-a-blazing” to wipe out terrorists responsible for killing Christians.

Sheikh Gumi, who has previously courted controversy over his comments on insurgency and negotiations with armed groups, used the platform to strongly criticise foreign military involvement in Nigeria. He argued that such interventions often worsen insecurity rather than resolve it.

“They claim to have come here to fight terrorists, but they are the actual terrorists,” he said, alleging that foreign airstrikes frequently result in civilian casualties and escalate tensions in affected communities.

Neither the United States government nor Nigerian security authorities have officially responded to Gumi’s claims as of the time of filing this report.