By: Hon Comrade James Onifade
This age-old proverb perfectly encapsulates the bewildering spectacle we have witnessed with Sheikh Abubakar Gumi, the Islamic cleric who has transformed himself into a self-appointed mediator between bandits and the Nigerian government. Recently, in what can only be described as an astonishing display of audacity, Gumi declared with stunning confidence: “The US Army can’t arrest me in Nigeria.” But this pronouncement raises far more questions than it answers, and it reveals a troubling pattern of evasion that has characterized this man’s interactions with Nigerian authorities.
The Comfortable Criminal
For months now, indeed, as I have mentioned repeatedly in previous articles, Sheikh Gumi has been walking freely across Nigeria, moving with the kind of liberty that should be reserved for upstanding citizens, not for someone whose actions have increasingly come under legitimate scrutiny. The most damning aspect of this situation is not Gumi’s flagrant disregard for accountability, but rather the deafening silence from our government.
While serious questions loom about his associations, his influence over armed groups, and his questionable activities, the apparatus of state has seemingly chosen to look the other way.
This governmental inaction has emboldened Gumi to such an extent that he now feels comfortable enough to make sweeping pronouncements about his untouchability. He has become so accustomed to walking freely that he has begun to strut like a man above the law and perhaps, given the government’s paralysis, that assessment is not entirely unfair.
When Confidence Becomes Confession
Here lies the central paradox that Gumi and his supporters seem unable or unwilling to confront: Why would an innocent man feel compelled to announce his legal immunity?
If Sheikh Gumi truly had nothing to hide, if his conscience was clear, and if his activities were entirely legitimate, why would the question of arrest even cross his mind? Why would he need to preemptively declare his untouchability? An innocent man, genuinely innocent, would not spend precious time and breath assuring the world that he cannot be arrested. Such declarations betray an underlying anxiety a deep-seated knowledge that there is something to run from.
The very act of protesting one’s immunity is itself a confession of sorts. It suggests that Gumi is acutely aware that there are grounds for his arrest, that his activities have crossed certain lines, and that without the protective shield he believes he has constructed around himself, he would be vulnerable to legal consequences. An innocent man does not think about arrest at all. He simply goes about his business, secure in the knowledge that the law will not pursue him because he has committed no crime.
A Pattern of Running and Hiding
As I have documented in my previous articles, Gumi has not been a stationary figure in Nigerian society. He has traveled, shifted locations, maintained low profiles in certain contexts, and generally conducted himself like a man who is aware that his security and freedom are contingent factors not absolute guarantees. Yet despite these movements, despite the apparent awareness that his actions carry risk, the Nigerian government has allowed him to operate with near-impunity.
This is the tragedy of the matter. By failing to investigate Gumi seriously, by failing to hold him accountable for his documented interactions with terrorist organizations and armed bandits, by turning a blind eye to his suspicious activities, our government has inadvertently created the very confidence Gumi now displays.
He has learned, through bitter experience perhaps, that the Nigerian state is either unwilling or unable to touch him. So he runs but he runs at a leisurely pace, because there is no one seriously chasing him.
If there are legitimate concerns about Gumi’s activities and there should be then why has action not been taken? If his involvement with armed groups is merely consultative and benign, then there is nothing to fear from a proper investigation.
If his activities are as innocent as he claims, then judicial proceedings would exonerate him. But the deafening silence suggests that either:
• The government is aware of serious wrongdoing but lacks the political will to act
• The government is negligently unaware of activities that it should be monitoring
• There are behind-the-scenes protections that keep Gumi safe from scrutiny
None of these scenarios reflects well on our institutions.
The Question He Cannot Answer
To Sheikh Gumi, I pose a simple, direct question: If you are innocent, if your dealings with these armed groups are purely for mediation and humanitarian purposes, if your hands are clean and your conscience is clear why the constant anxiety about arrest? Why announce your immunity? Why concern yourself with what armies from foreign lands can or cannot do?
The innocent do not contemplate arrest. They do not prepare defenses against accusations that have not been formally made. They do not feel the need to declare themselves beyond the reach of law enforcement. These are the behaviors of men who know something men who understand that somewhere, someone, is building a case against them.
Sheikh Gumi’s recent declaration is not a sign of strength or confidence. It is, paradoxically, a confession of vulnerability masquerading as bravado. A truly innocent man would not need to say such things. A truly innocent man would say simply: “I have done nothing wrong, and I welcome any investigation into my affairs.” Instead, Gumi preemptively declares his untouchability, reveals his anxiety about potential arrest, and demonstrates the very guilt that he claims not to carry.
The pattern is clear: a man walking freely when he should be under scrutiny, a government doing nothing when it should be investigating, and now, a criminal confidence born not from innocence but from the knowledge that no one is effectively chasing him.
The Nigerian government must break its silence. It must investigate. It must act. Because a sinner running freely, unchallenged and comfortable, is a sinner who will only run further into darkness and take our nation’s credibility with him.
The question is no longer whether Gumi can be arrested. The question is: Why hasn’t he been?
E-signed: Hon Comrade James Onifade
Advocate for Good Governance and A Better Judicial System
