Prominent Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has pushed back against criticism of his visit to Ibadan last year, flatly rejecting claims that he was promoting the Islamisation of Oyo State or advancing northern religious interests in the South-West.
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In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Gumi maintained that no person or group had the authority to bar him from travelling anywhere within Nigeria, and clarified that his presence in Ibadan had nothing to do with any South-West Muslim individual or organisation.
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“I was in Ibadan not at the invitation of any South-West Muslim individual or group, but as a representative of the Coalition of Northern Muslim Ulama,” he wrote. “Can anybody stop me from going anywhere in Nigeria?”
Gumi also took aim at what he described as a charged political atmosphere in the region, stating that he now understood how Islamophobia was shaping politics in the South-West and how he had been drawn into local controversies as a result.
The cleric had visited Ibadan on November 19, 2025, as a guest speaker at the Southern Nigerian Ulama Summit held at the University of Ibadan, where he also participated in a courtesy meeting of prominent Muslim scholars from across the country’s north and south.
His remarks followed a development that had reignited the controversy. One of the victims abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Mrs. Rachael Alamu — principal of Community High School, Esiele — appeared in a viral video from captivity to refute circulating reports that her abductors had demanded the introduction of Sharia law in the state as a condition for releasing their hostages.
Alamu said the kidnappers made no such demand and did not request a N1 billion ransom, as had been widely reported. She said the abductors were seeking the release of associates being held in government custody.
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