Popular Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, has denied viral claims on social media suggesting that he was targeted for elimination by the United States during its recent airstrikes on terrorists in Sokoto State.
Gumi explained that the video in circulation resurfaced from 2012, when he raised the alarm over a threat to his life by the Boko Haram sect, which allegedly attempted to eliminate him.
According to a post shared on his official Facebook page on Sunday, Gumi dismissed the report, stressing that there is currently no threat to his life.
He added that it was God who saved him from being killed by those who operated under the name of Boko Haram.
He wrote, “There is fake news going viral now that wrongly claims that I said I was targeted by the US attack on Nigerian soil, or something to that effect.
“I never said so, and I also never thought of such a possibility. I am comfortably staying in my home with my family without fear, intimidation, or apprehension.
“I believe the source of misinterpretation was a lecture I gave in the mosque on how, in August 2012, I was told that Boko Haram had targeted me for elimination.
“The two people who came to execute the plan were killed instantly when the bomb detonated in their hands near my house.
“I advise all news agencies that reported the fake news to publicly retract it and tender their apologies.”
TVC News previously that popular Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi condemned the Thursday airstrike launched by the United States of America on terrorist enclaves in north-western Nigeria.
Gumi’s criticism of the strikes came less than 24 hours after US President Donald Trump, via his official Truth handle, announced that the US Department of War carried out “numerous deadly strikes” in north-western Nigeria.
