CONTROVERSIAL Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, Ahmad Gumi, has been barred from participating in the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage.
Gumi was deported by Saudi authorities after he was initially granted a visa to travel to the country.
Gumi, who reportedly arrived in Medina on Saturday, May 24, around 10:30 p.m. aboard an Umza Air flight, was denied entry and deported upon arrival.
The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is considered one of the five pillars of Islam. It is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey.
Confirming the incident on his Facebook page on Monday, May 26, Gumi suggested that his political views might have influenced the decision.
“For some obvious reasons, my views about the world politics, the Saudi authorities are uncomfortable about my presence in Hajj after giving me the Hajj Visa,” he said.
He further expressed gratitude to the Nigerian government for promising to intervene with Saudi authorities, saying: “Thanks to the Nigerian authorities who have pledged to take up the matter immediately with Saudi authorities. That is the value of our cherished freedom and democracy.”
While Gumi did not specify the exact reasons for the Saudi decision, his controversial public positions on national security and terrorism in Nigeria have often placed him in the spotlight.
The ICIR reports that Gumi has been outspoken about the killings of children and women in the ongoing Gaza-Israel conflict.
In several of his posts, he has condemned the violence in Gaza, sharing reports that blame the administration of United States President Donald Trump.
He has also criticised Arab leaders for ‘welcoming’ Trump into their countries despite his policies on the conflict.
Previously, Gumi has acted as a negotiator between the Nigerian government and terrorists whose hideouts he had visited in different states with the sacked Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), now the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Usman Yusuf, a professor.
Gumi had also called for dialogue with the terrorists on several occasions, saying that terrorists had taken up arms due to government neglect and injustice and that they did so in self-defence.
He predicted that the country would be peaceful if terrorists were granted free education and basic amenities. He also warned against using the military approach to address insecurity in the North, recommending that amnesty be granted to them.
A day after bandits were declared terrorists in Nigeria, Gumi had described the decision as an exercise in futility.
“The decision by the government will not have any practical value because even before the declaration, they had been fought and treated as terrorists. So it is just a nomenclature which I believe will not change the dynamics on the ground,” he had said.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M