Gumi: Nigerian Government Knows Identities, Locations of Terrorists
Controversial Kaduna-based Islamic scholar Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi has asserted that the Nigerian government maintains comprehensive intelligence on the identities and precise locations of terrorists operating within the country, claiming that security agencies accompany him during engagements with armed groups in forest hideouts.
In an interview with DRTV that began circulating on Tuesday, Gumi defended his longstanding involvement in dialogue with bandits and terrorist elements amid persistent accusations that he maintains inappropriate relationships with violent actors responsible for widespread insecurity across northern Nigeria. The cleric, who gained national prominence in 2021 as a mediator between state governments and armed groups, insisted that his forest visits and negotiation attempts occur with full security coordination.
“The government knows every terrorist by name and by location. I don’t go alone to negotiate. I go with the police, military, and other security agencies,” Gumi stated during the broadcast. He elaborated that his engagements have included visits to traditional rulers and direct trips into bush territories where bandits maintain operational bases. “I would go to the Emirs. In fact, when we went to one forest, I even went with women into the bush,” he added.
Gumi’s allegations emerge against a backdrop of sustained violence that has claimed thousands of lives across Nigeria’s northern regions. According to data compiled by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), Yobe State alone recorded 128 security incidents resulting in 225 fatalities between January 2024 and August 2025, with 58 incidents coded as battles, 19 as explosions or remote violence, and 44 as violence against civilians. Nigeria Watch reported that banditry-related fatalities nationwide increased to 1,452 deaths in 2024, compared to 892 in 2023, with the majority concentrated in Katsina, Zamfara, and Kaduna states.
The scholar’s claims regarding government intelligence capabilities intersect with documented evidence of extensive security operations against known terrorist enclaves. A comprehensive 2025 security assessment identified approximately 270 criminal enclaves operating across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, with significant concentrations in the Northwest. In Zamfara State, considered the operational capital of banditry, vast forest networks including Bingi, Dansadau, Munhaye, and Sububu connect to neighbouring states and the Niger Republic, providing safe havens that enable coordinated raids.
Research conducted by the Danish Institute for International Studies documented that bandit leader Bello Turji indirectly controlled 30 separate camps in the Sabon Birni area of Sokoto State as of 2024, each led by minor commanders who maintain autonomous revenue streams through raids, taxation, and extortion. By 2024, 58 per cent of Sabon Birni’s 308 settlements had come under Turji’s influence, demonstrating the territorial extent of bandit governance structures.
The Nigerian military has conducted numerous operations targeting these identified locations. In December 2024, Nigerian authorities officially designated Lakurawa, a violent extremist group based in the Northwest, as a terrorist organisation. Subsequent joint operations with the United States military targeted the group’s camps in Tangaza Local Government Area of Sokoto State, though ground reports indicated the camps may have been unoccupied at the time of strikes.
Gumi’s assertion that security agencies possess detailed terrorist inventories aligns with established intelligence infrastructure. The Office of the National Security Advisor coordinates counterterrorism activities through the State Security Service, which oversees domestic intelligence, and the Defence Intelligence Agency, which focuses on military-related intelligence. According to security research, Nigerian agencies have procured communications-interception technology and surveillance equipment, including phone and internet monitoring capabilities and drone assets for intelligence purposes.
However, the persistence of violence despite such capabilities raises questions about operational effectiveness. Between 2019 and the first quarter of 2024, bandits kidnapped 9,527 people in the Northwest alone, representing 62 per cent of Nigeria’s overall abduction cases, according to United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research data. SBM Intelligence reported that mass abduction incidents — defined as the kidnapping of five or more people — resulted in approximately 7,400 victims in 2024, more than doubling from previous years and averaging nearly one incident per day.
The cleric’s mediation efforts, which he claims involved security coordination, have previously yielded tangible results. In 2021, he helped secure the release of 27 kidnapped students, earning official recognition from government officials and expressions of gratitude from affected families. Throughout his advocacy, Gumi has maintained that banditry constitutes “a lesser evil” compared to past coup attempts or Niger Delta militancy, arguing that socioeconomic grievances rather than ideological commitment drive recruitment.
His approach has generated significant controversy. Critics have called for his arrest, accusing him of defending terrorists, advocating rewards for armed groups, and undermining military efforts. Gumi has responded by characterising detractors as “spineless imbeciles” while insisting his mediation led to bandit surrenders.
The scholar’s latest statements imply that if the government indeed possesses the comprehensive intelligence he describes, the continued operation of terrorist networks suggests either strategic calculation or operational constraints in deploying that knowledge. Military operations in 2025 have included intensified campaigns in Niger, Katsina, and Zamfara states, with the Nigerian Air Force conducting airstrikes against bandit hideouts and ground troops recovering weapons and neutralising suspected terrorists.
Security data indicates the complexity of eliminating these groups despite intelligence advantages. Bandit organisations demonstrate remarkable resilience through fragmentation and decentralisation. When major leaders are neutralised, others rapidly emerge to fill vacuums, creating what analysts describe as a “hydra effect” where military strikes generate multiple successor entities. The approximately 30,000 bandits operating in the Northwest are organised into numerous factions ranging from 10 to over 1,000 combatants, according to research published in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.
Gumi’s interview has generated substantial social media engagement, with users questioning why insecurity persists if government intelligence is as comprehensive as alleged. No immediate response has been issued by the Federal Government or security agencies regarding the cleric’s specific claims about terrorist identification capabilities.