Prominent Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, and the Northern Christian Youth Professionals (NCYP) have warned against foreign interference in Nigeria’s internal affairs, describing such moves as dangerous to national sovereignty.
Gumi, in a statement on his official Facebook page, berated some Christian intellectuals for openly supporting foreign intervention, saying their action was “unpatriotic, shameful, and obnoxious.”
He expressed disappointment that those he expected to show stronger patriotism, given the South’s advancement in Western education, appeared more inclined toward “subservience to Western powers.”
According to him, the reactions by some southern Christians to recent comments and threats by former U.S. President Donald Trump reflected a “slave mentality” toward the West.
The cleric argued that Nigeria’s internal conflicts, including herder-farmer clashes and indigenous-versus-settler crises, were products of poverty, poor education, moral decay, and bad governance, not religion.
He condemned what he called the act of “inviting a liar, a genocidal supporter, a racist, a supremacist, and a colonist” to interfere in Nigeria on behalf of Christians, warning that such behavior could inflame national divisions.
“Inviting a liar, a genocidal supporter, a racist, a supremacist, a colonist to interfere on the side of Christians specifically is unpatriotic, shameful, and obnoxious,” Gumi wrote. “Can’t they see that the fight will take another dimension?”
While questioning whether such attitudes were driven by theological bias, Gumi said: “Is it their theological construct that makes them so naive and hateful? Unfortunately, the common denominator of these unpatriotic individuals is Islamophobia.”
He, however, praised the majority of Christians in the country, describing them as “good Samaritans living peacefully with their Muslim countrymen,” and prayed: “May Allah protect us all from the Antichrist (Dajjal—the liar). Amin.”
In a related development, the Northern Christian Youth Professionals (NCYP) urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to accelerate the implementation of the newly approved Forest Guard and State Police initiatives to strengthen internal security and prevent any justification for foreign military intervention.
The group, in a statement by its Chairman, Isaac Abrak, said the Federal Government must demonstrate that Nigeria has the capacity to secure itself and manage its own affairs as a sovereign nation.
NCYP described reports that the U.S. government, under Trump’s influence, was considering troop deployment to Nigeria as “unnecessary and counterproductive,” urging instead that America should support Nigeria through technical assistance, training, and intelligence sharing.
The group recalled that the Forest Guard, approved by President Tinubu in May 2025, was a key element of his Renewed Hope Agenda to tackle violent groups in forests, but lamented the slow pace of implementation and the exclusion of local communities from the process.
According to NCYP, community-driven recruitment, guided by traditional rulers and local leaders, would make the initiative more effective and sustainable, while providing employment for rural youths and strengthening national security.
The organisation insisted that the Forest Guard and State Police represented Nigeria’s true answer to terrorism and insecurity, not foreign troops, emphasizing that “Nigeria can secure itself if its leaders act with sincerity, urgency, and national pride.”
