Islamic cleric Sheikh Abubakar Gumi has called on Nigeria to immediately halt all military cooperation with the United States following America’s airstrikes on ISIS terrorists on Christmas Day.

In a post on his Facebook page on Friday, Sheikh Gumi warned that foreign military intervention, particularly by the United States, would worsen insecurity rather than resolve it.

“Nigeria should halt all military cooperation with the USA immediately because of its imperial tendencies worldwide and seek the help of those neutral countries mentioned. Nigerians are too educated to be played with. This is going to be a 2027 campaign discourse,” he wrote.

The cleric urged the Federal Government to seek military assistance from what he described as more “neutral” countries, including China, Turkey, and Pakistan.

While acknowledging that combating terrorism is legitimate, Sheikh Gumi argued that such efforts should not be outsourced to foreign powers with ulterior motives.

“The US involvement in Nigeria will attract the real anti-US forces, making our land the theatre of war. As a principle, no nation should allow its land to be a theatre of war, and no nation should allow its neighbours to be their enemies,” he said.

“Annihilating terrorists is an Islamic obligation,” he added, citing a Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). “But it should only be carried out by clean, holy hands, not by another terrorist whose hands are stained with the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent children, women, and men.”

According to him, relying on the United States to combat terrorism in Nigeria is a mistake, arguing that “terrorists don’t fight terrorists in truth; they may only kill innocent people and have ulterior motives behind the drama of fighting ‘terror’.”

Sheikh Gumi further claimed that U.S. involvement, particularly under the guise of protecting Christians, could deepen religious divisions and undermine Nigeria’s sovereignty.

“The USA’s involvement in Nigeria, citing coming to ‘protect Christians’, will ultimately polarise our nation and infringe on our sovereignty,” he said.

He also argued that airstrikes alone were insufficient to address insecurity.

“Dropping a few bombs here and there cannot tackle the menace of terror; they need serious military on the ground, which, if we are serious, we have enough men to do that,” he said, calling on affected communities to document and share evidence of any civilian casualties.

Sheikh Gumi raised further concerns over what he described as the symbolism of the strikes, alleging that they could inflame religious tensions.

“The attacks are symbolic of a harbinger of a neo-Crusade war against Islam,” he claimed. “An attack on Sokoto, where over 90 per cent are Muslim with no imminent danger of terror, while the real threat is in Maiduguri, and on a Christmas Eve, with the claim of protecting against Christian genocide, says a lot.”

His remarks followed an announcement by U.S. President Mr. Donald Trump that the United States had carried out a “powerful and deadly” military strike against ISIS terrorists in North-West Nigeria.

Mr. Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that the operation, which targeted militants responsible for the killing of “innocent Christians”, was ordered by him in his capacity as Commander-in-Chief of the United States.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS terrorist scum in North-West Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even centuries!” he posted.

The Nigerian Government also reacted through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, describing the operation as a collaboration.

“Nigerian authorities remain engaged in structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism.

“This has led to precision hits on terrorist targets in Nigeria by airstrikes in the North-West,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Mr. Kimiebi Imomotimi Ebienfa, said in a statement on Friday.